Melissa May

Dr. Melissa May is an executive consultant for Tribeca’s portfolio company, Spot On Sciences, where she provides technical expertise, market insight, and strategic acumen to facilitate new product development and strategic growth opportunities focused on driving long-term value creation.

Melissa has over a decade of experience in developing and commercializing disruptive technologies and priming the market for breakthrough innovations. In her previous roles as Vice President of Strategy at NetBio and Deputy Principal Investigator at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Melissa played a pioneering role in the development, commercialization and global market adoption of the first fully automated Rapid DNA Analysis system for forensic and clinical applications.

Melissa started her career in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where she was awarded the Presidential Fellowship and served as Deputy Director of Emerging Technology for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. She was responsible for strategy development and execution of programs to monitor and assess emerging technology trends and drive investment strategy to ensure development of breakthrough technology, accelerate delivery of mission-critical capabilities, mitigate technology surprise, and preserve & fortify the Nation’s technological advantage.

Melissa earned a doctorate degree from University of Illinois in Biochemistry and Structure-Based Drug Design. She serves regularly as a judge and mentor for regional Venture and Technology Accelerator competitions and has been an invited keynote speaker, presenter, and panelist at scientific and government conferences in over 20 countries. She has been recognized as “Women Thriving in Tech” and “Igniting Change: Women in the Business of Disruptive Technologies” and was the recipient of the Award for Excellence by the Office of the Secretary of Defense.