Melanie Norris is a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) with Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group (PAFMG) in primary care pediatrics. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at San Francisco State University and went on to work as a Registered Nurse at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH) at Stanford Children’s Health. Over the course of her 10-year career as an RN, she worked in various departments including pediatric intermediate intensive care unit, solid organ transplant, cardiac surgery and medical/surgical specialties. She spent a year volunteering with Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO) as a Clinical Nurse Instructor in a rural hospital in Malawi, helping to address a critical shortage of local doctors, nurses and midwives. She went on to complete her Master’s Degree in Nursing, with a minor in Global Health from the University of California, San Francsico (UCSF). She then returned to Malawi as Project Director for a USAID (United States Agency for International Development) funded project in partnership with UCSF and GAIA Global Health providing continuing educational training and nursing scholarships to nurses/midwives throughout the country. She currently serves on the Medical Advisory Board for GAIA Global Health, which is an international non-profit organization which strengthen healthcare in underserved African communities. Melanie has worked with diverse populations as a pediatric nurse practitioner locally in the SF Bay Area at a school-based health clinic, Fair Oaks Health Clinic at San Mateo County, and the LPCH Teen Health Van before joining PAFMG in 2018. In addition to supporting newborn care at the PAMF/Sutter Los Altos clinic, Melanie has been conducting pre-travel health counseling for pediatric patients in the primary care setting. She earned a certificate in travel health (CTH®) from the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM) in 2024. She has travelled extensively, participated in nursing service trips, surgical/medical missions and consulted on global health projects.