Meet our Team

Lea K. Davis, PhD

Professor

Lea K. Davis, PhD is a Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, and Genetics and Genomics. She is the Scientific Director of the Sinai Million Health Discoveries Program (SMHDP), one of the largest such sequencing projects of its kind. The SMHDP aims to integrate health and research data at Mount Sinai to promote discoveries that will directly benefit our patient population. Dr. Davis’s research spans many domains of medicine and psychiatry from neurodevelopmental disorders to womens’ health and employs a population level approach to investigate the genetic basis of a wide range of complex health conditions, diseases, and common traits. Her lab’s research integrates genetics, clinical informatics, and social determinants of health to study health outcomes captured in real world clinical data found in the electronic health record. In addition to her work on complex trait genomics, Dr. Davis has a long-standing commitment to furthering social justice through science, research ethics, genomic privacy, and responsible data sharing.

Maria Niarchou, PhD

Research Assistant Professor at VUMC

Maria joined the Davis Lab in 2018 as a Visiting Research Fellow, supported by a four-year Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship, and now serves as a Research Assistant Professor. She earned a B.Sc. in Psychology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece), an M.Sc. in Neuropsychology from the University of Bristol (UK), and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Cardiff University (UK).

Maria is a genetic epidemiologist with a background in psychology, specializing in leveraging Electronic Health Record (EHR) data and large biobanks to investigate the genetic and environmental factors contributing to psychiatric disorders, with a particular focus on neurodevelopmental and substance use disorders. Her research aims to uncover the etiological mechanisms underlying these conditions, with a particular focus on how genetic and environmental interactions shape mental health outcomes.

Tyne Miller-Fleming, PhD

Research Instructor at VUMC

Tyne is a Research Instructor in the Division of Genetic Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She joined the Cox and Davis labs as a postdoctoral fellow after completing her PhD in Molecular Neuroscience at Vanderbilt in 2017. Her current research includes leveraging electronic health records and genetic data to better understand the etiologies of common neurodevelopmental disorders, such as tic disorders, and rare congenital anomaly syndromes. Outside of work, Tyne enjoys cooking, traveling, and chasing her two small boys around the various parks and playgrounds in Nashville.

Peter Straub, MS

Application Developer

Peter previously worked at Vanderbilt’s Center for Human Genetics Research (CHGR) as a database developer and analyst in Will Bush’s lab.  Later, he worked in Bing Zhang’s proteogenomics lab in the Department of Biomedical Informatics.  Now, Peter has returned to his old CHGR stomping grounds, now the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, as a developer/analyst in the Davis and Cox labs.

Freida Blostein, MPH, PhD

Postdoctoral fellow

Freida joined the Davis and Cox labs as a postdoctoral fellow supported on the Vanderbilt Genomic Medicine Training Program. She received a PhD and MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan, and a BS in Evolutionary Anthropology from the University of Michigan. Freida’s doctoral research focused on creating biomarkers for the causal chain – susceptibility, exposure, and disease – using omics data in longitudinal, epidemiological cohorts. She is especially interested in gene-environment interactions in multifactorial diseases.

Freida’s website

Rachana Nitin, PhD

Postdoctoral fellow

Rachana joined the Davis Lab as postdoctoral research fellow in genetics. She received a Ph.D in Neuroscience from Vanderbilt University, an M.Sc. in Zoology from Pune University (India), and a B.Sc. in Zoology and Biochemistry from St. Xavier’s College (India). Rachana is passionate about using genetics to improve human health, and her research in the Davis Lab focuses on understanding the genetic architecture of neurodevelopmental disorders and their relevant comorbidities, using data from electronic health records. Her doctoral research involved the study of the genetic and neural links between musical rhythm perception and language, using data from large EHR cohorts and from cohorts with deeply phenotyped behavioural data.

Kayla Retallick-Townsley, PhD

Postdoctoral fellow

Kayla joined the Davis Lab in 2024 as a postdoctoral fellow in the Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine. They received their Ph.D in Neuroscience from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, work which integrated high-throughput genetic screening technologies, stem cell modeling of neurodevelopment, and computational multiomics to quantify interactions of environmental and genetic risk factors related to psychiatric traits. Currently, their research focuses on exploring the contributions of social determinants of health and biological risk on mental health outcomes in large EHR and biobank cohorts, with the goal of improving early detection and identifying viable social interventions that can inform preventative medicine and proactive public health policies.

Ky’Era Actkins, PhD

Associate Basic Scientist

Dr. Ky’Era Actkins is a Research Scientist in the Division of Genetic Medicine at
Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her research uses statistical genetics and
epidemiologic methods to study complex traits with a focus in women’s health. Dr.
Actkins’ research interests include investigating the genetic architecture of reproductive
conditions, cardiovascular diseases, and endocrine disorders such as polycystic ovary
syndrome (PCOS). Her current work in the Vanderbilt Genetics Institute aims to
leverage longitudinal data within electronic health records to understand how genetics,
early life variables, the environment, and clinical trajectories across the lifespan impact
the development of chronic health outcomes at different life stages.

Allison Lake, PhD

MD/ PhD Student

Allie is a student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Vanderbilt. After graduating from Haverford College with degrees in math and computer science, she worked in software development and later in computational genetics research before arriving at Vanderbilt. She looks forward to continuing to integrate her research interests in psychiatric genomics in the Davis lab with her clinical interest in psychiatry.

Ellen Tsai, BS

PhD Student

Ellen is a Ph.D. student in the Genetics and Genomic Sciences program at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is co-mentored by Dr. Lea K. Davis and Dr. Sandra Sanchez-Roige. She joined the lab after graduating from UCLA with a degree in Computational and Systems Biology in 2023. Ellen is broadly interested psychiatric genetics, with her current focus being opioid use disorder (OUD). She is investigating the impact of different phenotyping methods on genetic analyses and is working on understanding the genetics underpinning of OUD in diverse populations. In her free time, Ellen enjoys crocheting, cooking, and watching volleyball games.

Harris Bland, MBA, MPH

PhD Student

Harris (he/they) joined the Davis lab in the fall of 2023 as a Human Genetics PhD student. Prior to joining VUMC in 2016, he completed his undergraduate degree in Theology and Music, and obtained his MPH and MBA from Benedictine University. As he continues to work in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harris continues to lead projects that involve genetics and informatics, including the Vanderbilt site of eMERGE. Harris is interested in the intersection of genetics, epigenetics, and informatics to better understand gender identity and expression.

Norhafizah Binte Abdullah, BBioMedSc (W.Aust.)

Master’s Candidate, Genetic Counseling

Norhafizah (Fizah) is a Genetic Counseling student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and one of the first Malay Singaporeans to be accepted into a U.S.-based training program in this field. With a strong foundation in clinical research, genetics, and healthcare advocacy, she is dedicated to ensuring that genetic findings are relevant and applicable to all populations. Fizah strives to make genetic counseling more inclusive, culturally sensitive, and accessible to individuals from all backgrounds. Her research focuses on bridging gaps in genomic data representation and addressing health disparities in genetic counseling and healthcare practices. Through her work, she aims to empower patients and families to make informed decisions about their health, ensuring that genetic information is both accurate and meaningful for everyone.

Naomi Freilich

MD-PhD Student

Naomi is a MD-PhD student in the ISMMS Medical Scientist Training Program. During her undergraduate years studying Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard College, Naomi worked in an evolutionary and developmental genetics lab focused on the evolution of the human pelvis. This research explored the genetic underpinnings of the uniquely human pelvis and the ramifications of such anatomy on human health conditions, such as osteoarthritis and childbirth. Naomi is excited to be a part of the Davis Lab where she can delve into women’s health research.

JOIN US!

Here at the Davis Lab, we believe diversity is a principal component of a vibrant, healthy, happy, and successful team. We enthusiastically welcome applications from members of groups that are underrepresented in science, including women, racial minorities, and people who identify as LGBTorI. Visit the Join Us page for more information!