Melanie Eacho is the Cell Therapies Branch Chief in the Division of Cellular and Gene Therapies within the Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies at FDA/CBER. The Cell Therapies Branch focuses on the review of chemistry, manufacturing, and controls information in regulatory submissions for cell therapy products. Her experiences include medical product development - to transition medical devices, drugs, and biologics from bench to bedside - to protect, treat, and sustain the health of our Service Members at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. Prior to this, she worked on the development of medical devices for national medical countermeasures at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. She credits her first post-academic experience as a reviewer at FDA/CDRH for shaping and well-equipping her career in the field of public health. She has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering with a focus on airway tissue engineering from Northwestern University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park.