Rate My Professor Melanie Millier

Melanie Millier is a Research Fellow in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Otago's Dunedin School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine. She holds a BSc and an MSc in Physiology from the University of Otago, completed between 2011 and 2013, and is currently a PhD candidate supervised by Professor James Ussher of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Professor Peter McIntyre of Paediatrics and Child Health. Her research centers on measles immunity in young adults, coordinating the MAXXED randomized clinical trials led by Professor McIntyre. These trials assess serological and cellular immune responses to measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines delivered via novel aerosol (inhaled) and intradermal (micro-needle) methods compared to the standard intramuscular route. Her PhD project examines mucosal and cell-mediated aspects of measles immunity to inform strategies for enhancing protection against waning immunity and potential outbreaks. Millier also serves as the postgraduate representative on the department's Research Operations Committee and holds provisional registration as a Medical Laboratory Scientist with the Medical Sciences Council of New Zealand.

Prior to her current role, Millier conducted research in the Department of Medicine on fibroblasts and extra-articular inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis, in collaboration with Dr. Paul Hessian, supported by Jack Thomson Bequest grants in 2017 and 2019. She has received significant funding, including a $220,000 Health Research Council Clinical Research Training Fellowship in 2024 for measles-specific cellular immune responses to inhaled MMR vaccine and a grant from the Otago Medical Research Foundation. In 2020, she was awarded the Medicine Research Award at the University of Otago Dunedin Campus. Key publications include Saha et al., 'Limitations of serological screening for measles immunity in young health care workers in New Zealand' (Vaccine, 2025); Saha et al., 'Immunogenicity and safety of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine delivered by the aerosol, intradermal and intramuscular routes in previously vaccinated young adults: A randomized controlled trial protocol' (PLoS ONE, 2025); Wiles et al., 'Activated CD90/Thy-1 fibroblasts co-express the Δ133p53β isoform of p53' (Arthritis Research & Therapy, 2023); and Stamp et al., 'Relationship between adalimumab concentrations, anti-adalimumab antibodies and clinical outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis' (Journal of Rheumatology, 2024).