Melissa began her LSE-funded PhD at the Department of Gender Studies in 2017 and receieved her PhD in 2023. Her research explores lived and embodied experiences of conflict-related violence and everyday violence in the life course of sexual minorities in Colombia. Melissa's broader research interests include feminist and queer theory, memory and trauma studies, theories of affect and emotion, and ethnographic and visual research methods.

Melissa holds a MA (research) degree in Women's and Gender Studies (cum laude) from Utrecht University (Netherlands) and Universidad de Granada (Spain), a previous MA (research) degree in Psychosocial Research and a BA in Psychology from Universidad de los Andes (Colombia). She is a member of the Engenderings editorial collective and co-edits the multilingual and transnational feminist newsletter Nomadas with a group of feminist colleagues. Prior to joining LSE Gender, Melissa worked in academic and private organizations conducting social research projects and program evaluation employing quantitative and qualitative research methods.