Mellanby, Lady May (1882–1978)

British nutritional scientist who discovered that the onset of caries, a form of tooth decay, is determined partly by the deficiency of certain substances in the diet, particularly salts of calcium and phosphorus. She also determined that the onset of caries is dependent on the structure of the teeth, which is determined largely by the diet during development.

Mellanby grew up in pre-Soviet Russia and was educated at Girton College, Cambridge where she was awarded the equivalent of a degree 1906 (women were not allowed to formally graduate from Cambridge at that time).