Melissa Melough has already accomplished much at such venerated institutions as Cornell University, Yale New Haven Hospital and Johns Hopkins Hospital. The achievements continued when she came to UConn in the fall of 2015. On top of doing research, being a graduate assistant and writing a dissertation, she was married (in a castle), remodeled her kitchen and got a dog. Melough is destined for more milestones as she defends her dissertation on July 25. Here is what she said about her time at UConn.
Where did you study as an undergraduate? What was your major? I received my BS in nutritional sciences from Cornell University. I also took classes at Ithaca College to earn a minor in exercise science. After graduating from college, I completed a one-year dietetic internship at Yale-New Haven Hospital in order to become a Registered Dietitian.
Why did you decide to go to graduate school? My dietetic internship was working as a research dietitian at Johns Hopkins. In this role, I collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to plan and carry out clinical studies. I loved the process of designing a research plan, as well as my interactions with participants and the day-to-day work of data collection. This inspired me to pursue a doctoral degree so that I could develop my research skills and possibly lead my own studies in the future.
