OUR TEAM

Dr. Heather Davis (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Science program in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech. Dr. Davis earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Kentucky in 2020. She completed her APA-accredited internship and T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Dr. Davis’s research program addresses questions regarding the risks and consequences of disordered eating and related psychopathology. In particular, Dr. Davis is interested in the experience of shame in the context of eating disorders, and the potential for shame to serve as a transdiagnostic mechanism for comorbidity between eating disorders and comorbid problems, such as alcohol use, depression, anxiety, and self-harm. She uses multiple methods to test questions related to this aim, including laboratory, longitudinal, and ecological momentary assessment designs. Dr. Davis is currently conducting research investigating shame and disordered eating among individuals experiencing food insecurity. Dr. Davis’s research has been funded by the National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH) in the National Institutes of Health, the Lipman Foundation, and the Philanthropic Educational Organization. 

In addition to psychological science, Dr. Davis enjoys traveling, practicing yoga, keeping her houseplants alive, reading fiction, cooking new recipes, and baking bread.