Melissa H. Watt

Melissa H. Watt is a Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She holds an adjunct appointment in Obstetrics & Gynecology and teaches undergraduate courses through the University of Utah Honors program, directing the Honors Integrated Minor in Health. Her research focuses on behavioral interventions, HIV stigma reduction, mental health, health disparities, and global health, particularly in Tanzania.

She leads the MAMA Study in Moshi, Tanzania, addressing HIV stigma during childbirth, and collaborates with Surgery, Medicine, and Obstetrics & Gynecology faculty at the School of Medicine. Dr. Watt co-leads the Health Equity Research Core in the Woman and Child Institute and serves as Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in her primary department.

• Doctoral Training: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Graduate Training: University of Sussex
• Undergraduate: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Her research program integrates social and behavioral methods to improve global health outcomes, with recent work emphasizing electronic clinical decision support tools, pediatric injury care, and provider burnout in Northern Tanzania. She has published extensively on HIV stigma, maternal health, and antimicrobial use in low-resource settings.

Dr. Watt actively collaborates with international teams across Tanzania, Bangladesh, and South Africa. She has developed several stigma-reduction interventions (e.g., the Maisha counseling program) and contributes to policy on hypertension care for people with HIV.