Melissa Bauman, Ph.D.
Director, Conte Center (Contact PI)
Principal Investigator, Project 3: Neurodevelopment in an NHP MIA Model
Professor, Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology
Associate Dean for Research Infrastructure
UC Davis School of Medicine
Dr. Melissa Bauman serves as the Conte Center Director and is the Principal Investigator of Project 3. Dr. Bauman is a professor in the Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology and a faculty member of the MIND Institute at UC Davis. She has a robust research portfolio and extensive experience leading large-scale interdisciplinary research and team-science approaches to complex biomedical research questions. Her program of research uses preclinical models to evaluate risk factors and develop novel therapeutic interventions for neurodevelopmental disorders. Her current research focuses on understanding how changes in the prenatal environment, in particular the maternal-fetal immune environment, may increase the risk for autism, schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders. She currently leads two NIH P50 Grants – the UC Davis Conte Center and the MIND Institute Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center.
Dr. Bauman also serves as the Associate Dean for Research Infrastructure for the UC Davis School of Medicine. In this role, she is developing a strategic plan for oversight and sustainability of the School of Medicine cores and shared resource facilities and implementing the school's new research space policy. Dr. Bauman has a strong commitment to advancing women's careers in science and medicine. She served as the Director of the UC Davis Women in Medicine and Health Sciences program for six and a half years and has led efforts to improve gender equity in academic medicine. She has participated in Association of American Medical Colleges Early and Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminars and is an alumna of the 2022-2023 class in the national Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program. Dr. Bauman has also co-taught a first-year seminar on Women in Science for over a decade and is currently offering this class through the UC Davis University Honor Program curriculum.