Melissa Gilkey

Melissa B. Gilkey, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Behavior at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. She serves as Director of the Doctoral Program in Health Behavior and is a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research focuses on improving pediatric health services delivery, particularly adolescent vaccination (e.g., HPV vaccine), parent-provider communication, and cancer prevention. She leads an NCI-funded cluster randomized trial evaluating clinical champions’ impact on HPV vaccine communication and coverage.

• Education: PhD (Social and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 2011), MPH (Health Behavior, UNC, 2005), BA (English, UNC, 1998)
• Grants: $11.7M NCI grant for HPV vaccine research, CDC grant expanding COVID-19 vaccination access
• Awards: 2023 Gillings Research Excellence Award

Her work bridges implementation science and health communication, addressing barriers like provider and parental hesitancy. She also explores policy approaches, such as school vaccination requirements with opt-outs, as shown in recent surveys.