Dr. Dawn Davis is a tenured Professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism within the Department of Medicine. She is also the Endocrinology Section Chief at the William S. Middleton Memorial VA Hospital. Dr. Davis is the Director of the UW-Madison Comprehensive Diabetes Center, which focuses on building research collaborations and opportunities across multiple schools and departments at UW-Madison. She has received a Puestow Research Award and a Dickie Research Award from the Department of Medicine, a UW Health Patient Experience Physician Champion Award, and a Junior Physician Investigator Award and Medical Research Scholar Award from the American Federation for Medical Research. She holds a Senior Clinician Scientist Investigator Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs for her distinguished service and research accomplishments in support of Veterans.
Dr. Davis’ clinical practice encompasses all aspects of endocrinology, with specific interests in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes; rarer forms of diabetes, including genetic and acquired; endocrine complications after gastric bypass surgery; obesity and hypoglycemia.
Dr. Davis runs a federally funded research lab focused on pancreatic beta cell biology. Understanding the mechanisms underlying beta cell growth, survival and death may help identify new therapeutic targets that can help drive beta cell proliferation in the patient with prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, a recent islet transplant, or potentially even type 1 diabetes in combination with immune therapies. She also conducts collaborative clinical research that investigates biomarkers for diabetes, novel dietary interventions for weight loss and diabetes prevention, and the treatment of diabetes in hospitalized patients.