Dr. Melissa Rayner

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Melissa graduated with honours with a Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) degree from Medway School of Pharmacy. After completion, she went through pharmacy pre-registration training in a community setting, qualifying as a pharmacist in 2014. In the same year, Melissa began her PhD programme at the Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Therapeutics and Nanomedicines at University College London (UCL). During her PhD, she worked on training projects based in the Department of Pharmaceutics, UCL School of Pharmacy, and collaborated with Pfizer in Sandwich, U.K. After completing her PhD, Melissa joined the UCL Institute of Prion Diseases as a postdoctoral research fellow, where she developed an assay to quantify infectious human prions. She created a cell line model to stably propagate human vCJD prions, identifying cellular factors necessary for the propagation of infectious prions. In 2022, she was appointed Lecturer in Pharmacology and Principal Investigator at UCL School of Pharmacy, where she leads research focused on developing drug and cell-based therapies to promote nerve regeneration after damage. Melissa is actively involved in several committees and groups, including the UCL repurposing therapeutic innovation network and the European Society for the Study of Peripheral Nerve Repair and Regeneration Board.

Research Interests

Experience

Lecturer

2022-01-01 — Present

University College London, School of Pharmacy • London, United Kingdom

Leading research in the development of drug and cell-based therapies to promote nerve regeneration.

Post-doctoral Research Fellow

2019-03-05 — 2022-08-31

University College London, MRC Prion Unit • London, United Kingdom

Developed assay to quantify infectious human prions and a linear cell model for human vCJD prion propagation.

Pharmacist

2014-09-01 — Present

Boots Pharmacy • United Kingdom

Engaged in pharmacy practice.