Melissa Mercado

Melissa C Mercado, PhD MSc MA, is a Lead Behavioral Scientist in the Division of Violence Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An expert in youth/community violence and bullying prevention, Dr. Mercado is part of the federal inter-agency StopBullying.gov Editorial Board, oversees CDC’s Youth Violence Prevention Centers network, and leads gaming and online communities’ research for violence prevention. Dr. Mercado has worked in the non-profit, public, and private sectors as a public health researcher and communicator for 20+ years. Her research is characterized by an emphasis on community and racial/ethnic minority groups, and has been published in the media, at professional conferences, and high-impact peer review journals.