Melanie Bailey

Professor Melanie Bailey is a Reader in Chemistry at the University of Surrey, affiliated with the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. She holds roles as Theme Leader for Health and Food Technologies and EPSRC Fellow. Her academic background includes a BSc in Physics (University of Manchester, 2001) and a PhD in Electrical Engineering (University of Surrey, 2005). She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has pioneered advancements in forensic science and analytical techniques.

Her research focuses on ion beam analysis, forensic applications of mass spectrometry, and single-cell metabolomics. Key areas include drug adherence monitoring via fingerprints, metabolomics biomarkers for diseases like tuberculosis and cancer, and non-invasive biological sampling. She has developed methods for forensic intelligence extraction from fingermarks and contributed to global initiatives, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency’s coordinated research program on nuclear forensic techniques.

Her work spans collaborations with law enforcement agencies, healthcare institutions, and international organizations. Notable achievements include innovations in correlative imaging of trace elements and molecular species, and advancements in spatially resolved drug measurement using nanocapillary sampling. She has also explored applications of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and laser ablation techniques for forensic evidence analysis.

Dr. Bailey’s research addresses challenges in reproducibility and scalability of analytical methods, with contributions to pandemic response through metabolomics studies of SARS-CoV-2 and other viral infections. Her labs employ cutting-edge technologies like ToF-SIMS and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to advance biomedical and forensic science.