Melissa Lipsmeyer, PhD
Melissa Lipsmeyer joined VCOM-Louisiana in September 2019 as Discipline Chair and Assistant Professor for Cell Biology and Physiology. Dr. Lipsmeyer is a native of West Monroe, Louisiana and attended The University of Louisiana at Monroe where she obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biology. During her Masters, she focused on transcriptional regulation of gonadal development in the model organism C. elegans. Afterwards, she attended the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock for her PhD in Cellular Physiology and Molecular Biophysics. Her PhD focused on transcriptional regulation of embryo implantation and the etiology of endometriosis utilizing mouse models. Her dissertation also explored the role of high-fat diet on endometriosis development. Dr. Lipsmeyer has completed two post-doctoral fellowships. The first, a basic science post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, investigating biochemical post-translational modifications of collagen in Osteogenesis Imperfecta and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Dr. Lipsmeyer’s second post-doctoral Fellowship was performed at the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center and focused her research efforts on maternal obesity’s influence on offspring metabolic outcomes and breast milk composition utilizing clinical trials with human subjects. Dr. Lipsmeyer’s current interests are how the gut microbiome and diet composition regulate health of ovary and placenta in the context of obesity. Dr. Lipsmeyer’s favorite thing about VCOM-LA is the faculty and staff she works with, the amazing and determined students, and having the ability to bridge basic and translational science with physicians in the Monroe area. She is most excited for the opportunities and growth that VCOM-LA will bring to her hometown area and the state of Louisiana.
