Teresa Ann Davis, Ph.D. is the Director of Texas A&M AgriLife Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture (IHA), the world’s first research institute to bring together precision nutrition, responsive agriculture, and behavioral research to reduce diet-related chronic disease in a way that considers environmental and economic effects. Supported by the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), and the State of Texas, the IHA has an annual budget of more than $30 million and includes an embedded USDA-ARS unit.
Dr. Davis previously served for more than 30 years as a Professor of Pediatrics at the USDA-ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center (CNRC), at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, Texas. She is recognized internationally for her studies on the nutritional regulation of protein and amino acid metabolism and growth in humans and animals. She is an established expert on amino acid and insulin signaling and the metabolic effects of nutrients, hormones, and growth factors on muscle growth.
Dr. Davis received the Research Mentor Award from Baylor College of Medicine, the Centennial Leader Award from the University of Tennessee, the Stockstad Award from the American Society for Nutrition, and both the Animal Growth and Development Award and the Morrison Award from the American Society of Animal Science. She was elected President of both the American Society for Nutrition and the American Society of Animal Science and is a Fellow of both societies. She served as Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Nutrition for 10 years and is currently Editor-in-Chief of Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. She was a member of the USDA/HHS 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Davis received her doctorate from the University of Tennessee and her postdoctoral training from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.