Melissa is co-director of Malvern Hand Therapy and is an experienced hand therapy clinician and researcher. After graduating from La Trobe University with her Bachelor's degree in Occupational Therapy (BOT) in 1994, Melissa went on to complete her Master of Science (MSc - Major in Hand and Upper Limb Rehab) in 2001 at Curtin University, and her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 2021 at Monash University with her thesis on tendon injuries and splinting. Melissa is an Accredited hand therapist with the Australian Hand Therapy Association (AHTA), a member of the International Society for Sport Traumatology of the Hand (ISSPORTH), and a member of the Australian Occupational Therapy Association (OT Aust.). Melissa has been a teaching affiliate of Latrobe University and Monash University, teaching in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. She has also been involved in teaching short courses on hand therapy topics to early career therapists. Melissa holds a clinical researcher position in Hand Therapy at Austin Health and was previously the hand therapy team leader for over 20 years. Melissa is an internationally recognised therapist and is frequently invited to speak at conferences and congresses. She has given presentations in Australia, Norway, Belgium, Poland, Italy, Germany, UK, Switzerland, India and the USA, with this list growing annually. She is on the editorial board for the Journal of Hand Therapy and is the co-guest editor for the 2023 Journal of Hand Therapy Special Issue on the topic of Relative Motion splints. She has extensively published in the hand therapy literature (please follow the link for the list of publications) and has also co-authored two hand therapy book chapters. https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&view_op=list_works&authuser=4&gmla=AJsN-F4gjAdgwCbc1qk55vk7wjgzg3pmxlh59rv5dlgewd9jem5nrt4wIgSzYdteqEmIjc1JlRmxxeuFeSAhmB74CxwV2-lZncXsw&user=tlmTQbwAAAAJ Melissa enjoys treating all hand conditions and has a special interest in managing sporting injuries and facilitating a fast return to sport, hand fractures, tendon injuries, major hand trauma, Dupuytren's disease and ligament injuries.