Melanie Welham

Dame Melanie Joanne Welham (born 1964) is a British biochemist who was Executive Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council from April 2018 to June 2023. She was previously a professor of biochemistry at the University of Bath, where she worked on stem cell biology.

Early life and education
Welham was born and raised in Suffolk. Her father worked in agriculture, and she was the first member of her family to attend university. She studied biochemistry at Imperial College London, where only 15% of undergraduate students were women. She moved to University College London for doctoral research, where she studied the oncogene. She then moved to the University of British Columbia, where she worked as a postdoctoral researcher.

Research and career
Welham joined the University of Bath as a lecturer, where she worked on molecular signalling and stem cell science. She was the first woman to be promoted to Professor at Bath.

Welham joined Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) on secondment in 2012. In 2018 Welham was made Executive Chair of BBSRC, two years prior to this, she served as Interim Chief Executive of the Council.

She serves as Executive Champion for People, Culture and Talent at UK Research and Innovation. She was made a trustee of the Royal Society of Biology in 2023.

She was awarded a DBE for services to the biosciences in the 2023 Birthday Honours.