Melissa Gilbert is an accomplished woman with extensive lived experience of invisible disability; including rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, asthma and adenomyosis. Wanting her lived experience to have a meaningful impact, she has been actively involved in committees, boards and as a group leader for support groups across a number of consumer-focused health organisations, with her receiving the Margaret Strang Award from Arthritis Victoria in 2012. Combined with a doctorate and professional experience as an academic researcher, Melissa has contributed to 16 publications across topics such as autism, women's health, wellbeing and employment, transport for the elderly and disabled and family violence. This has equipped Melissa with expertise in lived experience engagement and co-design in research, and how to best facilitate other researchers to engage in a meaningful way, through her 'lived experience lens'. Melissa's lived experience draws on crucial areas of intersectionality that must be supported and understood by intersecting systems supporting people with disability - in her case; being from a culturally and linguistically diverse background and as a single mother. Melissa is particularly passionate about reducing discrimination when accessing healthcare; after experiences that have caused her to be misdiagnosed and face barriers to accessing equitable treatment. With Melissa's interests, experiences and expertise combined, she is a true asset to system change.