45266_UofUPurchasing{id45266} Notebook 2021 Front 12 N o te b o o k • Vo lum e X X VI I I I • 2021
A my D a v i s
“I enjoy learning about how infectious
diseases have shaped human history because I find it inspiring to frame my current work in a broad historical context,” says Amy Davis, PhD’03, Biology, a Senior Director, Biochemistry Research & Innovation at Utah-based BioFire Diagnostics, LLC, Davis says she was “fortunate to be born into a world with antibiotics and large-scale vaccine production,” while reminding us that “these tools in humanity’s struggle against microbial pathogens have only been around for the last 70-80 years.”
With her work at BioFire whose
systems have become the new standard for syndromic infectious disease diagnostics, what she calls her “obsession” with the history of medical science could not have converged at a more timely, and daunting, time. Last fall when the coronavirus pandemic emerged in a scorching third wave, a herculean effort was underway to bring a vaccine to market. The effort required accelerated and accurate diagnostics, something BioFire’s co-founder Randy Rasmussen, also a PhD alumnus (‘98) from the School of Biological Sciences (SBS), reiterated during last year’s virtual Covid Salon panel sponsored by SBS.
Davis, who earned her BS in biology with
honors from Penn State, followed by a year as a Fulbright Scholar, recalls what first drew her to graduate school at the SBS. It was the “fabulous faculty, collaborative culture,” and, of course, the spectacular mountain setting. “My graduate education at the University of Utah taught me how to think critically, work diligently, shake off setbacks, and thrive on the pursuit of understanding,” she says. “I loved 10
“I enjoy learning how infectious diseases shaped human history because I find it inspiring to frame my current work in a broad historical context.”
