Cristina Davis

Cristina Davis is a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Associate Vice Chancellor of Interdisciplinary Research and Strategic Initiatives at the University of California, Davis. Her work focuses on developing innovative chemical sensor systems for real-world applications in health, environmental monitoring, and agriculture. She leads the BioMEMS Lab, which integrates mechanical engineering, data analytics, and chemistry to create wearable sensors, micro/nano devices, and machine learning-driven diagnostic tools. Her research has led to two startup companies commercializing UC Davis technologies.

Key research areas include trace chemical detection in breath and environmental samples, biomarker discovery for human and animal health, and sensor system integration for field use. Applications span asthma monitoring, wildfire health impacts, and citrus disease detection. She has pioneered methods using exhaled breath condensate metabolomics for diagnosing infections like SARS-CoV-2 and influenza. Davis’s lab also explores bioreactor contamination monitoring and VOC-based agricultural diagnostics.

Her work has been recognized with the National Academy of Inventors Fellow designation. Current projects include large-scale vaping health studies, firefighter cancer prevention initiatives, and non-invasive sex determination of chicken eggs via scent analysis. She emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration across engineering, chemistry, computer science, and veterinary medicine.

• Labs: BioMEMS Lab
• Grants/Projects: Firefighter Cancer Prevention Projects, NIH-funded asthma monitoring systems, USDA-funded citrus disease research
• Technologies: Portable breath analyzers, microfluidic preconcentrators, GC-DMS systems