She is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, where she heads the Bioinstrumentation and BioMEMS Laboratory, and the university's Associate Vice Chancellor of Interdisciplinary Research and Strategic Initiatives.
Her research interests include sensors for biomarkers and trace chemicals, and micro-electromechanical systems for biochemical applications.
[2] From 1999 to 2005, Davis was a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University, a visiting scientist at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, a senior scientist at Molecular Devices Corporation in Switzerland, and a researcher, technical staff member, and group leader at the Draper Laboratory in Massachusetts.
[2] She joined the University of California, Davis as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 2005.
[2] She chaired the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and held the Warren and Leta Geidt Endowed Professorship from 2019 to 2021,[2][3] was Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering from 2021 to 2022,[2][4] and became Associate Vice Chancellor for Interdisciplinary Research and Strategic Initiatives in 2022.