Dr. Melton is the Xander University Professor at Harvard University, and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Additionally, Dr. Melton serves as the co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and the co-chair of the Harvard University Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. Dr. Melton serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Genetics Policy Institute, holds membership in the National Academy of the Sciences, and is a founding member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.
Dr. Melton completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1975. He went on to study at the University of Cambridge where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in the History and Philosophy of Science in 1977. Under a Marshall Scholarship, Dr. Melton did his PhD at the University of Cambridge supervised by John Gurdon.