Melanie is a Registered Nurse, Senior Lecturer and the National Academic Lead for Specialised Learning Environments and Simulation at Australian Catholic University. Her clinical specialty is in Intensive Care. She has held numerous education roles: Clinical Educator- Intensive Care, Education Coordinator of new graduate programs and clinical placements, Lecturer in Nursing, Director of Simulation and Head of Evaluation and Research at Mater Education, Brisbane

Since 2011, she has focused on designing and delivering simulation programs and was previously Chair of the national healthcare simulation body, the Australian Society for Simulation in Healthcare (ASSH).  In 2018 she moved her family to Boston, USA to undertake an international fellowship in simulation with the Center for Medical Simulation, within the Harvard Medical system.

Melanie has a passion is improving healthcare communication and has undertaken her PhD in this field. Her research explores how healthcare professionals receive messages in the speaking up context and how this can be enhanced to improve interprofessional communication and ultimately patient safety.