Kay Davies is the Dr Lee's Professor of Anatomy in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Honorary Director of the MRC Functional Genomics Unit and Associate Head of Division at the University of Oxford. Her research interests lie in the molecular analysis of human genetic disease, particularly the genetic basis of neuromuscular and neurological disorders. She is currently focussing on the development of effective treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a devastating muscle wasting disease. She co-founded Vastox plc (now Summit plc) in order to take drugs to the clinic for DMD. In 1999, she set up the MRC Functional Genomics Unit which aims to use genome information for the analysis of the function of genes to aid the development of new treatments for neurological disorders. Over the last ten years, she has been using ENU mouse mutants to model movement and behavioural disorders. She has an active interest in the ethical implications of genomics research and in promoting public understanding of science. She is a founding fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2003. She was awarded a CBE in 1995 and a DBE in 2008 in recognition of her many contributions to medical research.