Melissa King, MBA
Melissa King, MBA is the COO and Cofounder at Healthspan Action Coalition and Co-executive Director at ShelterTech. She is a passionate advocate for patients of chronic illness and disease as well as the medical research that can help reduce their suffering.
An expert at engaging multiple stakeholders and communicating effectively with varied audiences, she has been a champion for the California stem cell research program since before it formally existed.
At Healthspan Action Coalition since 2022, her organization unites all stakeholders who have an interest in lessening the burden of diseases and conditions that affect not only the aged but all patients worldwide who experience an enormous range of health conditions, all of which impact healthspan. Central to HAC’s formation is the recognition that virtually all diseases involve rapid premature aging, taking years off people’s lives, and the underlying cause of most widespread diseases is the aging process itself.
Melissa joined ShelterTech in 2022. This technology-focused nonprofit is dedicated to helping people who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. Their goal is to make it easier for this community to connect with resources that can help them address their challenges, become permanently housed, and stay on track to live happy and productive lives. ShelterTech believes everyone has the right to be connected, which is necessary in today’s world.
Melissa has been Senior Fellow for Advocacy and Public Affairs at the Regenerative Medicine Foundation since 2021 where she is committed to the ethical advancement of innovative medicine powered by regenerative therapies.
Previously, she was Executive Director at Americans for Cures for almost 5 years, until 2022. In 2020, she was Head of Field Operations for California’s Proposition 14 campaign. She passed the CA statewide ballot initiative that brought $5.5 Billion in renewed funds for CIRM, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Between 2019 and 2020, Melissa built and mobilized a coalition that communicated with tens of thousands of Californians about Prop 14 and built the patient advocacy coalition needed to get the state ballot initiative passed in November 2020. She achieved qualification for the ballot with 650K+ verified signatures by an immovable deadline under COVID-19 conditions in the most challenging year in history to qualify for the California ballot.
Melissa was the Vice President at The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) between 2015 and 2017. IT is an American multi-stakeholder group and nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces and numerical spaces of the Internet, ensuring the network’s stable and secure operation.
Between 2013 and 2015, she was the Chief of Staff at KQED: NPR, PBS & Digital Media where she was a member of the senior management team conducting strategic planning and organizational, technology, and budgeting prioritization for a $75 million operating budget.
Melissa served as a senior member of the successful 2004 campaign for California’s Proposition 71, which created the CIRM and the California stem cell program. She hired the first several key employees at CIRM to become the very first pioneers of the new state funding agency.
She was the Executive Director of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine for more than 6 years. Melissa led the agency through program and policy development including the creation of the Facilities Grant Program leveraging $271M to attract $880M in support for $1B in scientific research facilities, and the creation of Medical and Ethical standards and Intellectual Property Policy still in place for CIRM grantees as of 2024.
Melissa earned her Bachelor’s Degree of Arts in Philosophy with a focus on Philosophy of Mind and Artificial Intelligence from Wellesley College. She earned her Master of Business Administration from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Melissa is in the Leadership of the Regenerative Medicine Foundation as Senior Fellow on Advocacy and Public Affairs.
Melissa was invited Speaker at the World Stem Cell Summit – The Intersection of Regenerative Medicine and Healthspan in 2020 and 2023. She was also an invited Speaker at the Longevity Summit Dubin in 2023 and 2024. Read Leading scientists and innovations will gather in Dublin next week to explore cutting-edge advancements in extending human healthspan.
Read The Dublin Longevity Declaration.
Visit her LinkedIn profile.
