Gideon John Davies (born 6 July 1964) is a professor of chemistry in the Structural Biology Laboratory (YSBL) at the University of York, UK.

[2][7][8] Davies is best known for his ground-breaking studies into carbohydrate-active enzymes, notably analysing the conformational and mechanistic basis for catalysis and applying this for societal benefit.

Davies was educated at the University of Bristol where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and a PhD in 1990 for research on the enzyme phosphoglycerate kinase isolated from the bacterium Bacillus stearothermophilus, and supervised by Herman Watson and Len Hall.

[10] in 1990, Davies moved to York to work with Dale Wigley and Guy Dodson on DNA gyrase, starting his own group within YSBL in 1996 upon receiving a Royal Society University Research Fellowship.

[5] Davies research investigates the biological chemistry of carbohydrates, from their structure[15][16][17] to their roles in enzymology,[18][19] glycobiology,[20][21][22][23] use as biofuels[24][25][26] and implications for gut microbiota.

As a direct result of his work into the conformation of sugars during turnover, he described the rational design of highly potent inhibitors of O-linked glucosamine modifying enzymes.