Kayla J. Davis, PhD
(she/her/hers)Overview
Kayla Davis assists the firm in biotechnology patent prosecution, leveraging her extensive background in biomedical science, cell biology, genetics, neuroscience, and science policy.
Kayla’s foundation in biomedical research was established through her doctoral and postdoctoral work at Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital. Her research focused on the molecular mechanisms governing mitochondrial movement in neurons and their implications for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Prior to joining Wolf Greenfield, Kayla held roles at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US Department of Energy. While at the NIH, she served as a Senior Health Science Policy Analyst in the Office of the Director, conducting in-depth technical and scientific analyses across various biomedical and clinical research areas. Kayla also has experience spearheading policy development on Tribal data and genetics research, ensuring ethical standards and federal compliance in studies involving Tribal Nations.
Kayla holds a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Harvard University, where her thesis research explored the functional analysis of Miro GTPase domains in the mitochondrial motor adaptor complex.
Activities
- Society for the Advancement of Chicano/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science
- American Indian Science and Engineering Society
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
Recognition
- AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow (2021-2023)
- Science & Technology Massachusetts State House Fellow (2020)
- Harvard Medical School Dean’s Community Service Award (2020)
- Harvard Biological and Biomedical Sciences Student Service Award (2019)
- Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (2018)