Dr. Fiddy Davis teaches Biomechanics, Anatomical Kinesiology, and Health Dynamics and is developing two additional courses.

Before joining the Hope College faculty in 2023, Dr. Davis spent a year and a half at the University of Michigan’s Performance Research lab for training in wearable technology to optimize athletic performance and lower injury risk. From 2003 to 2021 he served on the faculty of his alma mater, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), a private university in India. Early in his time there, he started the Human Performance Lab in the Department of Physical Therapy, which offers fitness appraisals and training programs both for athletes and for clients with significant health challenges. In that lab, he mentored more than a dozen graduate students as they pursued research in the field.

With the goal of building capacity in health and human performance in his home country, he pioneered exercise and sports science education by proposing and implementing MAHE’s master’s degree (2014) and bachelor’s degree (2016) programs. His leadership accelerated exercise and sports science as a mainstream profession in India.

He was also the founder and head of the Center for Sports Science, Medicine and Research (2017), which offers comprehensive sports science and sports medicine consultation to elite and recreational athletes.

Areas of Expertise

• Athletic injury prevention and rehabilitation
• Performance physiology
• Applied sports mechanics

Education

• Post-doctoral training, University of Michigan, 2021–2023
• Ph.D., exercise science, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India, 2013
• M.S., physiotherapy, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India, 2003
• Post-graduate diploma, sports physiotherapy, Alagappa University, India, 1998
• B.S., physiotherapy, Tamilnadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, India, 1997

Grants

• “Influence of Aging on Mechanical and Morphological Characteristics of the Athletic Show,” Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) Intramural Research grant, 2019
• “Comparison of Leg Stiffness among Athletes across Various Sporting Surfaces: A Crossover Trial,” MAHE Intramural Research grant, 2019
• “Badminton Specific Injury Prevention Program: Development and Effectiveness,” Badminton World Federation grant, 2017

Selected Publications

• “Association of Accelerometer-measured Sedentary Time, Light Intensity Physical Activity Levels with Cardiometabolic Disease Risk in Indian Office Workers: Insights from the SMART-STEP Study,” with B. Chandrasekaran et al., Obesity Medicine, 2023
• “The Plausible Effects of Wearing Face Masks on Sports Performance: A Scoping Review,” with A. Das et al., Science & Sports, 2023
• “Mechanics, Energetics and Implementation of Grounded Running Technique: A Narrative Review,” with S. Davis, A. Fox and J. Bonacci, BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine, 2020
• “Science of Sleep and Sports Performance: A Scoping Review,” with B. Chandrasekaran, and S. Fernandes, Science & Sports, 2020
• Ethical Issues: Perspectives for Physiotherapists, with K. Raja and T. Sivakumar, Peepee Publishers, 2006

Outside the College

Fiddy lives in Ann Arbor on the weekends, where his wife, Sheeba, is pursuing her doctoral studies and daughter Shannon is completing high school. He enjoys teaching tennis to Shannon and going for long walks with Sheeba. He loves watching Hope College athletes train and compete. He also enjoys playing many sports, with a particular liking for racket sports, basketball, cricket and soccer.