Melissa Huang received her PhD in Psychology from the CUNY Graduate Center, where she studied psychosocial functioning in young children and adolescents. When her father was diagnosed with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, she saw devastating impact of multi-system diseases without a cure and vowed to work in research and toward causes to end suffering and losses. 

She could relate to BSF's values and was deeply inspired by the Barth syndrome community. As a result, she joined BSF as the Clinical Research Coordinator in 2022. Melissa finds great fulfillment in helping people, which is why she continues to be heavily involved in Barth syndrome clinical research efforts, but she also leverages her organizational strengths by taking ownership of the process-focused pieces that enable the research to happen. 

Prior to joining BSF, Melissa served as a research project manager for longitudinal research studies that focused on child development and health at CUNY Brooklyn College and CUNY Queens College. Her passion for family health and improving the lives of people through science inspired her to pursue a career in clinical research and contribute to BSF’s mission.

When she’s not working on research, Melissa likes spending time with her husband and 2 shiba inu dogs, documenting food adventures, baking, and visiting family back in Honolulu, Hawai’i.