Joey Davis

Joey Davis serves as an Associate Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, within the Department of Biology under the School of Science. He returned to MIT in fall 2017 after industry experience to pursue academia, emphasizing mentorship and interdisciplinary research on cellular machinery.

His educational background includes:

• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley
• PhD from MIT (2010)

Davis employs biochemical, biophysical, and structural approaches to investigate how bacteria, yeast, and human cells assemble, disassemble, and reorganize intracellular machinery. His lab specializes in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to capture protein complexes mid-assembly, focusing on ribosomes and autophagosomes. Computational reconstruction of 3D models from 2D cryo-EM snapshots reveals dynamic cellular processes critical for antibiotic development and neurodegenerative disease research.

Davis prioritizes mentorship, granting students intellectual freedom while providing guidance to build confidence in tackling complex scientific challenges. His collaborative lab environment has directly supported PhD candidates like Laurel Kinman in advancing computational methods for structural biology.

The Davis lab integrates computation, structural analysis, and experimental biology to decode cellular assembly mechanisms, fostering innovation at the intersection of multiple scientific disciplines.