Melissa Skala is the Carol Skornicka Chair at the Morgridge Institute for Research and a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the Professional Society for Optics and Photonics Technology (SPIE), and Optica. Her lab develops biomedical optical imaging technologies for cancer research, cell therapy, and immunology with support from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Her inventions are undergoing commercialization through small business grants. She serves as an editorial board member at Cancer Research and the Journal of Biomedical Optics, and on the Advisory Committee for the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for Career Awards at the Scientific Interface. She received her BS from Washington State University, MS from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and PhD from Duke University.