Davidson has played a major role in establishing that development in the metazoans depends on the sequential activation of genes programmed for expression during oogenesis and early embryonic development. His monograph, "Gene Activity in Early Development," is a classic that provides direction for research in this complicated field.

His research interests include molecular biology of differential gene expression in metazoan embryos and their systems of developmental gene regulation; gene control of echinoderm embryogenesis, including the roles of maternal and zygotic transcripts; specific genes utilized in embryonic cell types; gene regulation and the significance of cell lineage, cytoplasmic localization and induction; DNA-protein interaction controlling spatial patterns of differential gene expression in this embryo; and general molecular biology of development

Eric H. Davidson　教授的重要學術榮譽如下：

美國國家科學院院士
美國加州理工學院細胞生物學教授