Sheila Davis is Associate Director of the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute. Her responsibilities include (1) management of day-to-day operations of the Cobb Institute; (2) management of health policy, health systems, health services, and disease prevention initiatives of the Institute such as the review and updating of NMA monographs and consensus statements on critical health issues in the African American community; (3) analysis of current legislative health policy proposals; (4) development of plans for future research for the Institute based on needs and opportunities; and (5) representation of the Institute on Capitol Hill and liaison to outreach organizations where appropriate.


Currently, she serves as Principal Investigator for a Medicare Part D study designed to increase access to prescription drug coverage in the Medicare-eligible African American population. This study, a major initiative of the Institute, is being piloted in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi. It targets Hurricane Katrina victims.


Previous professional experiences include her work at Summit Health Institute for Research and Education, Inc. (SHIRE) where Dr. Davis managed an Office of Minority Health grant to improve cultural competence in health care delivery settings and a National Library of Medicine funded campaign to promote health and wellness among Montgomery County, MD youth in order to reduce their risk of developing type II diabetes. Dr. Davis published a study on the use of peer health educators in primary care settings while she served as a research scientist at Morgan State University.


Dr. Davis was also a member of the writing team for the 1998 Update of the Healthy People 2000 Progress Review. As a technical writing fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, she taught undergraduate engineering students the principles of technical writing.


At the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network, Dr. Davis co-authored an Office of Minorities Health-funded study of the Spelman College mathematics and science programs, and she designed and coordinated a National Institutes of Health-funded public health summer internship program for undergraduates.


Dr. Davis completed a B.S. degree in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received an M.D. degree and a Master of Science degree in bioengineering. She completed an internship in pediatrics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.