Her work was selected to appear in the post-election 2016 "#ICPWeThePeople" exhibit at the International Center of Photography and has been featured on social media by Flak Photo Network, the Women's March on Washington DC, Women's March LA, Pantsuit Nation, Female Collective, the Muslim Women's Alliance, #STORYOFTHESTREET, War Within a Breath, International Chase Photography, and Rage Against the Machine. Melissa holds an AB in Government from Harvard College, an MD from Harvard Medical School, and an MPH from the Harvard-Chan School of Public Health. In 2015, after a fifteen-year career in academic medicine and medical education on topics at the intersection of health and poverty, Melissa turned to the study of documentary photography at the International Center of Photography.