Melkam Kebede is an islet biologist with a strong interest in uncovering the causes of pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. She leads the Islet Biology and Metabolism Laboratory at the Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney. Her research focuses on the pancreatic beta-cell, particularly the mechanisms governing insulin secretory granule biogenesis, maturation, stability, and secretion. Her laboratory applies a combination of mass spectrometry, flow cytometry, microscopy, and molecular and cell biology approaches to investigate these processes in cell and animal models of type 2 diabetes. Her work has been supported by the Diabetes Australia Research Program as well as NHMRC Project and Ideas Grants.