Dr. Athena Starlard-Davenport is Assistant Professor of Genetics, Genomics and Informatics at University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) in Memphis, TN. Dr. Starlard-Davenport earned a Masters in Biology at University of Louisiana at Monroe and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Medicine. Following her graduate studies, Dr. Starlard-Davenport spent several years at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an ORISE post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Toxicological Research, an FDA Commissioner's Fellow, and as a staff fellow. She then returned to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to design tools to promote and increase cancer awareness and the importance of biobanking as part of the Department of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. Dr. Starlard-Davenport is now at UTHSC where she leads as PI the Sistas Taking A stand for breast cancer Research (STAR) study. Dr. Starlard-Davenport is a current (2019-2021) Human Genetics Scholar with the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG).
Recent Publications
- Pace, BS, Onwuemene, O, Starlard-Davenport, A, Markowitz, RB, Heboyan, V, Datsov, P, Rice, T. PRIDE-FTG Advances Academic Careers of Underrepresented Early-Stage Investigators Performing Blood Disorders Research. Blood Adv 2025; : . PubMed PMID:40402127 .
- Starlard-Davenport, A, Palani, CD, Zhu, X, Pace, BS. Innovations in Drug Discovery for Sickle Cell Disease Targeting Oxidative Stress and NRF2 Activation-A Short Review. Int J Mol Sci 2025; 26 (9): . PubMed PMID:40362428 PubMed Central PMC12071363.
- Palani, CD, Smith, A, Cao, X, Li, B, Pace, BS, Starlard-Davenport, A. Cholesterol-conjugated miR-29b induces fetal haemoglobin expression via γ-globin promoter demethylation in the Townes mouse model for sickle cell anaemia. Br J Haematol 2025; : . PubMed PMID:40320590 .
- Mozhui, K, Starlard-Davenport, A, Sun, Y, Shadyab, AH, Casanova, R, Thomas, F, Wallace, RB, Fowke, JH, Johnson, KC. Epigenetic entropy, social disparity, and health and lifespan in the Women's Health Initiative. medRxiv 2025; : . PubMed PMID:40061325 PubMed Central PMC11888519.
- Batbaatar, N, Smith, A, Jia, C, Naser, AM, Mou, X, Vidal, G, Starlard-Davenport, A. Association of environmental factors with breast cancer incidence among African American women in Memphis, Tennessee. Int J Environ Health Res 2024; : 1-13. PubMed PMID:39267524 .
- Bajpai, AK, Gu, Q, Jiao, Y, Starlard-Davenport, A, Gu, W, Quarles, LD, Xiao, Z, Lu, L. Systems genetics and bioinformatics analyses using ESR1-correlated genes identify potential candidates underlying female bone development. Genomics 2024; 116 (1): 110769. PubMed PMID:38141931 PubMed Central PMC10811775.
- Desalegn, Z, Smith, A, Yohannes, M, Cao, X, Anberber, E, Bekuretsion, Y, Assefa, M, Bauer, M, Vetter, M, Kantelhardt, EJ et al.. Human Breast Tissue Microbiota Reveals Unique Microbial Signatures that Correlate with Prognostic Features in Adult Ethiopian Women with Breast Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2023; 15 (19): . PubMed PMID:37835588 PubMed Central PMC10571711.
- Gu, Q, Kumar, A, Hook, M, Xu, F, Bajpai, AK, Starlard-Davenport, A, Yue, J, Jablonski, MM, Lu, L. Exploring Early-Stage Retinal Neurodegeneration in Murine Pigmentary Glaucoma: Insights From Gene Networks and miRNA Regulation Analyses. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2023; 64 (12): 25. PubMed PMID:37707836 PubMed Central PMC10506683.
- Gu, Q, Orgil, BO, Bajpai, AK, Chen, Y, Ashbrook, DG, Starlard-Davenport, A, Towbin, JA, Lebeche, D, Purevjav, E, Sheng, H et al.. Expression Levels of the Tnni3k Gene in the Heart Are Highly Associated with Cardiac and Glucose Metabolism-Related Phenotypes and Functional Pathways. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24 (16): . PubMed PMID:37628941 PubMed Central PMC10454158.
- Coleman, TM, Starlard-Davenport, A, Onwuemene, OA, Stepleman, LM, Pace, BS. Peer mentoring to support career advancement among underrepresented minority faculty in the programs to increase diversity among individuals engaged in health-related research (PRIDE). J Clin Transl Sci 2023; 7 (1): e107. PubMed PMID:37313375 PubMed Central PMC10260328.