Melissa A. Walsh

Education: 
University of Chicago
Biochemistry and Chemistry majors
B.S., B.A., 2020

MSTP Student Governance:

• Student Admissions and Recruitment Committee, 2023-24
• Student Advisory Committee, 2025-2026

Honors & Awards:

• Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Predoctoral MD/PhD Fellows, National Cancer Institute, 2024 - 2028

Thesis Advisor: Benjamin Hackel, Ph.D.

Publications:

Walsh MA, Blanchard PL, Zhang X, Cheung NT, Yee D, Hackel BJ. Engineering isoform-selective miniprotein binders to the fetal form of the insulin receptor. Protein Eng Des Sel. 2026 Jan 9;39:gzag025. doi: 10.1093/protein/gzag025. PMCID: PMC13557182

For work prior to the UMN MSTP:

Bebel A, Walsh MA, Mir-Sanchis I, Rice PA. Elife. A novel DNA primase-helicase pair encoded by SCCmec elements. 2020 Sep 18;9:e55478. PMCID: PMC7581432