Davis, Tracy L., MD, PhD

I was born in New Hampshire, but moved to Arizona at a  young age and essentially grew up in the Phoenix area. As a high school student, the world of medicine was revealed to me through a human anatomy class. It was my first exposure to medicine and I was thoroughly fascinated. This interest led me to pursue an undergraduate degree at the University of Arizona in Biochemistry with a distributed minor in math, physics and biology. Given my strong interests in science, I soon became sidetracked by research and worked in a variety of different research labs as an undergraduate student including neuro-oncology, entomology and chemistry. Subsequently I attended medical school at the University of Arizona, and completed a Ph.D. in Cancer Biology at the Arizona Cancer Center. Strangely enough, it was my graduate work in prostate cancer progression which ultimately led to my interest in dermatopathology. My graduate work focused on alterations of the alpha6 integrin, which is a component of a cell adhesion protein complex, called a hemidesmosome, that is essential for a variety of cell functions. So when I presented my findings at national conferences, it turned out nearly half the scientists interested in my work were researching certain genetic blistering skin conditions. ultimately, this led to some collaborative projects looking at the role of the alpha6 integrin in skin mutations.

After defending my dissertation, I moved from Tucson to Boston to pursue my residency in Anatomic Pathology at the Massachusetts General Hospital which includes the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Institute. Following this, I then completed the Harvard Dermatopathology Fellowship which encompasses the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. I am passionate about teaching and have experience teaching medical students, graduate students and dermatology and pathology residents in subject areas including pathology, histology, cancer biology, and dermatopathology. I am board certified in both anatomic pathology and dermatopathology. After finishing my training, I have practiced in hospital and outpatient-based pathology and dermatopathology practices in Sacramento, Phoenix and Albuquerque, but I’m happy to finally be back “home” in Tucson again.

On a personal note, I have numerous outside interests including international hiking and adventure travel, tennis, photography, ballroom dancing, and learning Spanish