Her thesis looked at the practices of working in an inclusive and participative way in the context of a youth inclusion programme and its evaluation in the UK. She has published in the areas of organisational change and innovation, knowledge management and qualitative research methods. She worked as a Research Officer with the LML evaluating the Positive Futures programme between 2004-2006. From 2007-10 Melissa was Research Fellow at CAMHS Evidence-Based Practice Unit, University College London and Anna Freud Centre. She is currently Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Middlesex