Dr Melody Li
BBmed, BSc (Hons), PhD
Senior Research Officer
Location
Parkville Campus
30 Royal Parade
Parkville Victoria 3052
Research group
Ion Channels and Human Diseases Group
Biography
Dr Melody Li is a translational neuroscientist with a main research interest in identifying ‘druggable’ disease mechanisms driving neurogenetic disorders. She completed her PhD in 2015 from the University of Melbourne, and later undertook a Research Fellowship at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in 2020.
Many neurological conditions such as epilepsy have a genetic basis and there is a clear urgent need to decipher this genetic information and use it to deliver better clinical management for patients. Dr Li’s research has contributed to this cause by deploying multi-modal functional analyses that revealed the actual cellular mechanism driving the pathophysiology of neurogenetic disorders. Her technical expertise includes electrophysiology, in vivo imaging and behavioural assays.
Melody is also involved in commercially sponsored in vivo drug discovery programs and has aided the clinical development of disease-mechanism targeted therapies.
Career highlights
Current role
Investigating disease mechanisms of epilepsy, in vivo lead in drug discovery programs
Past role
Research Fellow at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
Research project
Awards and achievements
- 2020–2021 – Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI Grant
- 2020–2021 – Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship
- 2017 – Florey Career Development Award
- 2016–2017 – University of Melbourne Early Career Grant Scheme
- 2011–2014 – Australian Postgraduate Award
- 2010 – Frances Elizabeth Thomson Honours Scholarship
- 2007 – Dean’s Honours List for Excellence in Academic Achievement