Titles and Affiliations
Director, Institute of Translational Genomic Medicine
Professor of Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Immunology
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
Scientific Director, International Center for the Study of Breast Cancer Subtypes
Research area
Identifying social, biological, and environmental determinants of breast cancer outcomes in Black women.
Impact
Black women are 41 percent more likely to die from their breast cancer than white women. This is due, in part, to a lack of diversity in genomics research that propagates a paucity of equitable therapeutic and diagnostic options to serve a diverse population of patients. Dr. Davis and her team study the relationships between ancestry, the tumor microenvironment, social determinants of health, and environmental exposures to address this disparity.
Progress Thus Far
Using advanced laboratory techniques, the team studied tumor samples from women of African American, Ghanaian, and Ethiopian descent, revealing ancestry-associated differences in the tumor microenvironment, including differences in the behavior of several types of immune cells. The team also investigated a specific genetic variant called DARC, common in people of African ancestry, and found that it is associated with distinct patterns of inflammation in the blood as well as changes in immune cell behavior in tumor tissue. The team also expanded its analysis linking neighborhood-level social and economic conditions to tumor genetics, finding that specific DNA damage patterns are more common in tumors from patients living in areas facing greater social and economic challenges.
What’s next
The researchers will use advanced imaging technology to map where immune cells are located within tumors and how they interact with cancer cells and then connect these maps of tumor-associated inflammatory markers in the blood with DNA damage patterns, and neighborhood and environmental factors such as air quality, land use, and proximity to industrial pollution sites. These findings will shed light on how ancestry-linked biology and structural inequalities intersect, leading to more personalized, equitable care.
Read more about Dr. Davis’s work as part of BCRF’s Health Equity Initiative here.
Biography
Melissa B. Davis, PhD serves as the Director of the Institute of Translational Genomic Medicine and Professor of Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Immunology at Morehouse School of Medicine. She is Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, Scientific Director of the International Center for the Study of Breast Cancer Subtypes (ICSBCS), and Director of Health Equity for the Englander Institute of Precision Medicine and Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Department of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, NY.
Dr. Davis received her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics at the University of Georgia where she completed groundbreaking work in model organisms on developmental functions of steroid signaling during Drosophila metamorphosis. Her postdoctoral training in Functional Genomics and Systems Biology at Yale School of Medicine (Human Genetics) and the University of Chicago (Human Genetics and Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology) led to key elements of the ModENCODE project, showing the genome-wide and tissue-specific dynamics of hormone receptor binding. In addition, her postdoctoral training in Cancer Health Disparities at University of Chicago at the Interdisciplinary Center for Health Disparities led to her current work on biological determinants of cancer health disparities.
She began her current research program with specific focus in breast cancer, expanding into prostate and gynecological cancers in recent years. Dr. Davis is a pioneer in the field of “disparities genomics,” including findings that uncovered unique genetic signatures and epigenetic mechanisms, in both breast and prostate tumors of African and African American patients. Specifically, her work indicates that mechanisms associated with aggressive tumor progression, including cell signaling and immunological responses, are associated with genetic ancestry. Her current findings involve utilizing quantified ancestry to unravel genetic vs environmental influences in tumor biology among race/ethnic groups. Dr. Davis has uncovered novel opportunities to develop precision medicine applications in minority populations, including lending her expertise to co-lead the Polyethnic 1000 projects, as an Ethnicity Scholar for the New York Genome Center, a concerted effort to increase knowledge of genomic profiles of underrepresented minority cancer patients. Her work is a prime example of how inclusion of diverse ethnic groups can empower research design for discovery of novel genetic risk and gene network modifications that result in unique tumor biology.
“Our interactions within the BCRF community are invaluable, inspiring us to push forward with research that will transform patient care and treatment efficacy.”
