2012 CSIRC Keynote Speaker:
Brian L. Davis, Ph.D.
Professor and Department Chair of Biomedical Engineering
University of Akron
Brian Davis holds both a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, and a master’s degree in
Medicine (Biomedical Engineering) from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), and a Ph.D. from
Penn State University. He had a staff-level appointment at the Cleveland Clinic from 1992 to 2010.
In terms of medical devices, Dr. Davis has led a number of initiatives focused on rehabilitation technology
and instrumentation for assessing a patient’s risk for diabetic foot ulceration. He is currently the Principal
Investigator on a State-funded project aimed at commercializing sensors for diagnosing connective tissue
disorders. He is also leading an educational program named “BEST Medicine” that encourages middle
and high school students to develop interests in engineering, science and technology, particularly as
these relate to designing novel medical devices. Dr. Davis is a member of a number of professional
societies, including the International Society of Biomechanics – a society for which he served as
President from 2005 to 2007.
During his time at the Cleveland Clinic he was the first investigator to receive a peer-reviewed grant from
NASA headquarters on the topic of foot biomechanics in response to impact loading (1996-1998), the first
investigator to obtain funding from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the first to obtain a
four year grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He subsequently received funding to develop
and test an exercise countermeasure device for astronaut use and was part of a team that developed
biomechanical sensor instrumentation that is currently on the International Space Station.
Over the past 18 years, Dr. Davis has served as Principal Investigator and secured external peerreviewed funding in excess of $25,000,000.