DrMelissa Oxley

I hold a PhD in Microbial Ecology from Griffith University (conferred Dec 2005), having completed a Bachelor of Science (Aquatic Science) from Deakin University and Honours in Marine Science from the University of the Sunshine Coast. I have held postdoctoral positions at the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and in Germany at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). I have a strong background in data analysis and biostatistics, having completed several additional short courses in these disciplines and lectured in these Units at undergraduate and postgraduate levels over several years. After developing extensive experience in academic teaching in science, data analysis and biostatistics, I developed a strong interest in assessment, evaluation and standard setting. This interest led to my current position as Senior Lecturer within SALT at SoM (Deakin University), commencing in June 2021. In my current position within SoM, I provide support in Medical Assessment covering written exams, clinical assessments, OSCEs and WBAs. I liaise with Academic teams, building assessments using specialised software used across International Medical Schools, and provide evidence-based knowledge and data analysis/interpretation of assessment output. My aim over the next years is to develop a research agenda/profile in this assessment space using the knowledge and tools acquired after teaching/chairing units, as well as recent experience over the past 5 years in medical assessment space working on OSCEs and written exams. I also have significant experience in classical microbiology and culturing, microscopy (epifluorescence and confocal), molecular biology (PCR-based and working with DNA and RNA) and advanced methods relating to next-generation sequencing (NGS), where I have worked across disciplines involving small animal models, human material and environmental samples. While I have established myself as a researcher, I have extensive experience as a Lecturer, Supervisor, Mentor and Unit Chair across undergraduate and postgraduate units across 3 Universities. In brief, I lectured and ran a unit called Environmental Microbiology for 7 consecutive years at Technische Universität (TU) Braunschweig (Germany, 2007-2013); lectured and chaired several units at Flinders University over the last 8 years (Adelaide, 2017-2023) and most recently, chaired units called Academic Writing and Communication (SSC900, SSC700) at Deakin University, a postgraduate unit designed for 150+ PhD students (2022, 2023). In recognition of my mentoring and academic teaching abilities I was awarded the Dean (Education) Award for Excellence in Teaching 2019 – Student Nominated awarded by Flinders University among other commendations and recognitions. I have great initiative, am exceedingly motivated, am highly communicative and whole-heartedly enjoy working within the academic/research environment, especially in a team with like-minded peers.