Melissa Berrien-Elliott

Melissa Berrien-Elliott, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. She leads the Berrien-Elliott Lab, which focuses on leveraging natural killer (NK) cells for cancer immunotherapy and chronic viral infection treatment. Her research employs preclinical and translational approaches to enhance NK cell efficacy through cytokine activation, genetic engineering, and microenvironment modulation.

Her work explores:

• Cytokine-induced memory-like NK cell differentiation
• CAR-engineered NK cell therapies
• Bispecific antibody-enhanced tumor targeting
• Epigenetic reprogramming of immune cells
• MicroRNA regulation of immune responses

Recent publications (2022-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on clinical translation, including phase I trials of novel immunotherapies, mechanistic studies of NK cell memory, and combinatorial approaches for hematologic malignancies. Over 50% of her last 15 publications involve human clinical data or patient-derived models.

Dr. Berrien-Elliott collaborates extensively with cancer centers nationwide on adoptive cell therapy trials. Her lab is currently recruiting researchers to advance NK cell therapeutic platforms.