Melissa Perry was born in Pittsfield Massachusetts in 1966 and from the age of two grew up in Northern Vermont. When she graduated from high school she was one of two people from her town of Highgate Vermont to go on to university. Perry received masters and doctoral degrees from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. Her first paper, “Graduate Training and Feminism: Maintaining an Identity” was published in 1991, which was followed by a series of publications on social disparities in mental health and AIDS. At 29 Perry received her first independent investigator (RO1) research grant from the National Institutes of Health, and became a visiting scientist at Harvard in 1997. As a member of the tenure track faculty at Harvard, Perry published a series of studies on the biological impacts of chemicals including how exposures to DDT and everyday pesticides are affecting the ability to conceive. She trained in molecular biology at the Woods Hole Biological Laboratory in 2007, which led to a series of papers demonstrating new methods to identify genetic abnormalities in sperm and she received the Woods Hole Frontiers in Reproduction distinguished alumni award in 2017. Perry served as chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at George Washington University in Washington DC for 11 years, where she grew the department to achieve national prominence in occupational and environmental health science and policy. In 2020 she graduated from the year-long Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Fellowship Program where she implemented and evaluated the University Academic Leaders Academy at George Washington University.In 2022 she was named Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at George Mason University, which formally became the College of Public Health. She is leading a dynamic group of interprofessional students, faculty, staff and alumni to ensure health is available to all. Perry has authored over 150 papers in epidemiology and public health and has given talks at over 25 American universities and in over 15 countries. She is a fellow and the past president of the American College of Epidemiology, and a fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini. She is married to husband Shamet Qejvani and has two sons Justin and David. She is the daughter of actor John Schwab Perry of Provincetown Massachusetts, niece of movie director Frank Perry, and first cousin of pop artist Katie Perry.