Frank M. Davis, MD, FACS, a vascular surgeon and assistant professor of surgery at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, is the 2026 recipient of the ACS Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson II Promising Investigator Award. Dr. Davis’s research aims to explain why abdominal aortic aneurysms grow and translate those findings into treatments that could prevent rupture.
Although surgeons can repair an aneurysm once it reaches a size or risk threshold, no medication has been shown to stop a smaller aneurysm from enlarging. The Davis Lab, led by Dr. Davis, is investigating changes within the aortic wall that might offer another way to intervene.
Finding a Target in Aneurysm Inflammation
One line of Dr. Davis’s research examines macrophages, immune cells that can contribute to inflammation in an aneurysmal aorta.
In a study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, he and his colleagues used single-cell RNA sequencing to examine human aortic tissue and identify changes that might be missed when cells are studied together. They found increased activity of JMJD3, an enzyme that influences how genes are expressed, in macrophages from aneurysm tissue.
The team then tested the finding in mouse models. Inhibiting JMJD3 reduced macrophage-driven inflammation and limited aneurysm expansion, identifying a potential treatment target. Dr. Davis’s longer-term goal is to develop ways to deliver such therapies to the cells involved in disease progression. While that approach remains experimental, it points toward a possible medical treatment for patients whose aneurysms are being monitored.
The Davis Lab also studies vascular smooth muscle cells, which help maintain the strength and structure of the aortic wall.
In a 2025 JCI Insight study, Dr. Davis and colleagues found that a cellular stress pathway was more active in smooth muscle cells from human aneurysm tissue. Experiments in mice linked that pathway to smooth muscle cell death and aneurysm development.
The researchers tested 4-phenylbutyrate, a compound approved for other uses that can reduce this type of cellular stress. In two mouse models, treatment reduced aortic enlargement and helped preserve the vessel wall. The findings provide a starting point for further study, though they do not establish the compound as a treatment for patients with aneurysms.
Moving Discoveries Toward Patients
Dr. Davis completed an integrated vascular surgery residency at the University of Michigan and joined its faculty as an assistant professor. His training included a Sarnoff Cardiovascular Foundation Fellowship, a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship, and an ACS Resident Research Scholarship. His current research is supported by a Department of Veterans Affairs Career Development Award and the American Heart Association.
Across these projects, Dr. Davis is identifying biological changes that worsen vascular disease and finding ways to interrupt them. His work extends to related questions in hypertension and wound healing, while abdominal aortic aneurysm remains a central focus.
As he works toward independent research funding, his goal is to move promising findings from human tissue and laboratory models toward therapies that could give surgeons and patients another medical treatment option before repair becomes necessary.
The Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson II Promising Investigator Award recognizes early career surgeons whose research shows promise for advancing surgical care and patient safety.
