Gareth Davies

Associate Professor of Pharmacy, Scientific Director at Avera Institute for Human Behavioral Genetics

Education: Ph.D. at University of Cardiff, Wales; B.S. (Honors) at University of Plymouth, England

Awards: SDSU Teacher of the Year; Honorary Member, Golden Key; Lifetime member of Who’s Who in Collegiate Faculty; Post Doctorate Fellow at National Institute of Health

Gareth Davies came to SDSU in 2005, “teaching and doing my research, which concerns the genetics of behavioral disorders,” he says. About this time, Avera was building its behavioral health hospital in Sioux Falls and wanted to develop a genetics research project within it.

Davies got the job, and now directs all scientific research that goes on there. He divides his time between Avera and SDSU, where he maintains his pharmacy research program, teaches immunology and genetics, and sits on the SDSU Graduate Council.

A scientist today, Davies came into the profession by what he calls “a nontraditional background,” meaning … he played professional rugby for several years before entering Cardiff University in Wales, a university known for producing teachers and conducting excellent research. (The winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Medicine teaches there.)

One of Davies’ current projects involves the behavioral disorder ADHD and 5,000 sets of Dutch twins. The team is focusing on discordant pairs: twins where one has the disorder but the other doesn’t. “Identical twins have identical DNA, so there must be an environmental trigger that causes it” says Davies. “It really makes them the gold standard for research like this.”