KENNESAW, Ga. | Feb 20, 2026

Before leading national biomedical research projects, Jacob Davis ’17 was deployed overseas in the U.S. Army, taking night classes on base and searching for direction. Today, the Kennesaw State University graduate is a biomedical engineer and section chief at the National Institutes of Health, using data and collaboration to drive public-health impact.

An Atlanta native, Davis earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Kennesaw State and was part of the cohort that attended during the 2015 consolidation with Southern Polytechnic State University. His path to college began after five years of military service that included two deployments to Afghanistan. While stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he enrolled in evening courses through the University of Maryland Global Campus, an experience that helped him reconnect with academics. After leaving the military, he returned to Georgia and enrolled at SPSU, where he would finish his degree.

“I didn’t really have plans for college before that. I didn’t have plans to do anything academically. I was just kind of living life,” Davis said. “But after getting older and a little more mature, I started to enjoy learning again and decided that was the path I was going to go into.”

At KSU, early exposure to research became the turning point. Davis worked with mechanical engineering professor Rich Ruhala and associate professor Ayse Tekes, gaining hands-on experience that clarified his long-term interests.

“The biggest thing and why I recommend KSU as compared to some other schools for undergrad was the exposure to research early,” Davis said. “I was able to do research, and the more I did it, I really started enjoying it, and that got me on the path to grad school.”

After graduating from KSU, Davis attended Georgia Tech, earning a master’s degree in biomedical engineering through a joint program with Emory University and a doctorate in bioengineering. His focus gradually shifted from mechanical design toward biological systems.

“It’s been a gradual transition,” Davis said. “I’ve really just kind of been creeping down that path from the mechanical side to almost all biology now, but I still use a lot of those design and engineering principles day to day.”

Davis initially accepted a position with the U.S. Navy, but while awaiting clearance, he joined a newly forming data center at the NIH to provide computational biology expertise. The temporary role became permanent, and he now leads the Systems and Computational Biology Section, collaborating with clinicians and researchers across multiple agencies.

“It’s a very collaborative role,” Davis said. “At any time, I have my hands in from five to 50 projects at once, helping with data analysis, modeling, and experiment design. My job is very variable, and I like that I don’t have my own set research program. My research is just whatever the NIH is doing, really.”

Rather than operating a single laboratory, Davis works as a consultant and collaborator, helping teams design experiments, analyze genomic and clinical data, and build predictive models. One of his greatest current efforts focuses on sickle cell disease and improving quality-of-life outcomes through data-driven testing.

“People do experiments and clinical trials, and all that needs to be analyzed to formulate the new clinical trials,” Davis said. “We’re not something separate. We’re part of the cycle at this point. You can make these datasets easily and cheaply, but what do they mean? They’re just a bunch of numbers.”

Beyond research, Davis remains committed to mentorship and education and recently helped establish a high-performance computing infrastructure within his NIH center.

“We have our own cluster now,” Davis said. “We started teaching classes, and we’ve been bringing these tools to clinicians and researchers who didn’t really have access to them before. That’s probably the thing I’m most proud of.”

Lawrence Whitman, Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology dean, said Davis’s trajectory reflects the type of impact the College strives to cultivate.

“Jacob’s career shows how professional paths can evolve in unexpected ways beyond our original plans,” Whitman said. “We’re proud to see our alumni contributing to top-tier national research and making a meaningful impact on people’s lives.”

– Story by Raynard Churchwell

Photos provided and by Lydia Polimeni, National Institutes of Health

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to its more than 51,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university's vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties, and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 8 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.