[3] In his 1964 autobiography, Elmer Verner McCollum says that Davis was physically handicapped by severe burns that she received at age ten while playing at a bonfire when her clothing caught fire.

In 1908, she transferred to the University of California at Berkeley and received her bachelor of science degree in home economics in 1910.

[3] Davis worked as an assistant for McCollum, caring for a large rat colony and helping expand it.

[7] In 1913, Davis and McCollum identified what they called "fat-soluble A", a substance found in fats that is essential to life.

[11] She briefly moved to New Jersey to work for the Squibb Pharmaceutical Company and later helped Rutgers University form a nutrition lab as part of its Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.

[11][12] In his 1964 autobiography, McCollum attributes his success in nutrition research to two people: Davis and Stephen Babcock.