Melissa Ann Geller

Melissa Ann Geller, MD, MS, FACOG is a tenured Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health, concurrently serving as the Division Director of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Minnesota.

She is the Associate Director of Clinical Research at the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center. Dr. Geller leads the Translational Working Group of the Masonic Cancer Center on Gynecologic cancers. She currently serves on the NRG Oncology Developmental Therapeutics/Phase I/Experimental Medicine Committee and the Ovarian Committee. 

Her leadership extends to being the Principal Investigator of several pivotal clinical trials under the NRG, a nationally recognized cooperative consortium. She leads multiple clinical investigations focused on delivering natural killer (NK) cells and other immune-based therapies intraperitoneal (IP) for the benefit of women affected by recurrent ovarian cancer. Her translational research centers on manipulating the tumor microenvironment of ovarian cancer to augment the efficacy of NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity. 

Her research is funded by the NIH and the Department of Defense. She is a 2024-2025 U.S. Fulbright scholarship awardee in Ireland. Her work focuses on refining immune-based therapeutic modalities delivered via intraperitoneal (IP) catheters.  The project's goal encompasses the scaling of the IP catheter device to manifest as a functional prototype for use in human clinical trials.