Michael graduated from the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1988.  Following 4 years in private veterinary practice, he completed an equine internal medicine residency at the Marion DuPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, VA while also earning a Masters of Science in Veterinary Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1995.  Michael then earned a PhD at Johns Hopkins University in Respiratory Physiology in 1999.  He moved to Oklahoma State University in 1998, where he has progressed to his current rank as Professor and John Oxley Endowed Chair in Equine Sports Medicine.  Michael is board-certified in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation – in the latter, he is currently slated to serve as President of the ACVSMR from 2019-2020.  He has been awarded the Regents Distinguished Research Award, twice been awarded the Pfizer/Zoetis Award for Research Excellence, and was the inaugural ACVIM Hero in Medicine for his research in the pathophysiology of exercise-related illnesses.  Dr. Davis’s current area of research involves how athletic conditioning improves skeletal muscle function – from uptake of oxidizable substrates to the mitochondrial mechanisms for maximizing ATP production from those substrates.