Melina is a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, working on the Enabling Person‑Centred Integrated Care Networks (EPICS) project. Her research explores models that support older people to age well in the community. Central to this work is a commitment to public engagement and co‑production—ensuring that the voices of older adults and community members are at the heart of service design and policy development. Through close collaboration with stakeholders and lived‑experience experts, her work contributes to enabling forms of care that are meaningfully tailored to the specific needs, preferences, and everyday realities of those using services and facilities.

She is currently analysing a range of international approaches to integrated care, social prescribing, and community‑based systems, focusing on identifying inclusive, sustainable models that promote wellbeing and independence in later life.

With a background in disability studies and qualitative research, Melina has previously worked on several National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)‑funded projects aimed at improving social care for marginalised groups, particularly individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her work has centred on identity, belonging, and the role of intergroup contact in fostering inclusive communities and reducing social isolation.

Melina completed her doctorate at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent, under the supervision of Professor Rachel Forrester‑Jones and Professor Michelle McCarthy. Her PhD examined the stigmatisation of Tourette’s syndrome and evaluated interventions—including education, advocacy, and contact‑based strategies—to reduce marginalisation and promote social inclusion.

She is co‑author of Tourette’s Syndrome, Stigma, and Society’s Jests (Springer Nature, April 2025), which draws upon the social model of disability to explore how stigma around Tourette’s operates—through historical misconceptions, humour, media representation, and structural barriers—and to advance strategies that centre lived experience and advocate for inclusive social change.