The Interface of Medicine and Engineering in Academia

Peter F. Davies, PhD
Robinette Foundation Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Director, Institute of Medicine and Engineering University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

His work in flow-regulated endothelial mechanobiology is considered seminal to the establishment and development of the field of endothelial mechanotransduction. Following his Ph.D. in experimental pathology from Cambridge University in 1975 and postdoctoral training at the University of Washington, Seattle, Peter was recruited to the faculty at Harvard Medical School 1978-1988 during which period he was also a visiting scientist at MIT. From 1988 as Professor of Pathology and Director of the NIH Specialized Center of Research in Atherosclerosis at the University of Chicago, he led research into molecular mechanisms of atherogenesis, and was Director of the NIH training program in cardiovascular pathophysiology and biochemistry. In !996 he was appointed Founding Director of the interdisciplinary IME at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to institute administration and research he heads an interdisciplinary NIH Cardiovascular Training program and co-directs a Howard Hughes Medical Institute-NIH Interfaces Initiative. He has trained 40 postdoctoral fellows most of which are in Academia. Peter’s honors include a NIH MERIT Award, Senior Research Scientist Award of the American Heart Association, CARIM Medal of the University of Maastricht, Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Fellow of the AHA, many distinguished lectureships and multiple awards for innovative biomedical education. He is a Member of the Board of Directors of NASA’s National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), serves on 3 NIH Study Sections and 4 editorial boards and is appointed to the NIH College of CSR Reviewers.