Professor Melissa Russell is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne. Holding a Bachelor of Physiotherapy and a PhD completed in 2008 from the University of Melbourne, she began her career with training in physiotherapy before transitioning to epidemiology. Promoted to Associate Professor in 2021, she previously served as Senior Lecturer and has held key teaching roles including Master of Public Health Course Coordinator and lecturer for subjects such as Real World Epidemiology and Master of Epidemiology. She is also a Senior Academic Fellow at the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, contributing to teaching and learning innovations in epidemiology and biostatistics.

Her research specializations encompass university student mental health, where she leads the Toward a Health Promoting University cohort study of 14,880 students, investigating influences like assessment and curriculum design, social support, financial stressors, culture shock, and COVID-19 effects on local and international students. Additional focuses include asthma epidemiology, physical activity and lung function across the lifespan, and surveillance of adverse events following immunisation. Notable publications comprise 'Changes in mental health across the COVID-19 pandemic for local and international university students in Australia: a cohort study' (BMC Psychology, 2023), 'The mental health of international university students from China during the COVID-19 pandemic and the protective effect of social support: A longitudinal study' (Journal of Affective Disorders, 2023), 'Towards a health promoting university: descriptive findings on health, wellbeing and academic performance amongst university students in Australia' (BMC Public Health, 2022), 'Childhood predictors of lung function trajectories and future COPD risk' (The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 2018), and 'Leisure-time vigorous physical activity is associated with better lung function' (Thorax, 2018). With over 3,200 Google Scholar citations, her work impacts public health education and respiratory health research. Recognitions include an Advance HE Fellowship, University of Melbourne Career Interruption Fellowship and Gem Scott Fellowship funding, and a 2015 U21 Health Sciences Teaching Excellence Award listing. She supervises PhD students and contributes to projects like SAEFVIC.

Professional Email: melissar@unimelb.edu.au