< 2023 Leading Women

Melodie Knowlton

Senior Director of Community Affairs and Global Head of STEAM Education, Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Melodie Knowlton, Senior Director of Community Affairs & Global Head of STEAM Education at Vertex, is a strategic thinker, dynamic speaker, and visionary leader who moves with excellence, creativity, urgency, and purpose. She uses her background as a scientist, educator, people leader, and community partner to maximize the benefit of corporate social responsibility initiatives and corporate giving for both the community and industry stakeholders.

Melodie currently leads Vertex's STEAM Education function and drives the strategy and execution of the outreach activities. Since joining Vertex in 2016, Melodie has transformed the Learning Lab into a global outreach program that impacts the communities in Boston, San Diego, and Oxford through the creation and expansion of STEM opportunities to students who have not always had access to hands-on and paid science experiences.

Prior to Vertex, Melodie worked as a teacher and department chair at The Cambridge School of Weston. She also served as an instructor at the Harvard Extension School, and completed postdoctoral research at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research.

Melodie earned her Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Harvard University, and earned a B.S. in Biology from Ohio State University.