Aaron Dotson spent last summer participating in medical research at one of the world’s most renowned institutes, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Selecting the JHU program over similar research internships at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, Dotson, a neuroscience junior, spent three months working with Dr. Brendan Canning at the Bayview Medical Center campus. The summer internship program in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine provided Dotson with critical skills to pursue his career goal of becoming a doctor.
While at Johns Hopkins, Dotson studied the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. IPF is an incurable disease that leads to the thickening of the tissue in the lungs, making it difficult for them to move normally and to properly absorb oxygen. As a result, not enough oxygen is delivered to the organs and patients often die after three to five years.
“Before the program, I had no research experience whatsoever besides just taking biology lab here at UT Dallas,” Dotson said. “But after the program, I can say I know what research is about, I know how to approach it, and I’ve learned many skills that I can use in my future.”
Dotson was not the only Comet at Johns Hopkins — he visited and learned about the area with UT Dallas alumni Chanel Matney BS’11 and Therri Usher BS’11.
“UT Dallas has other good relations with Johns Hopkins because of the faculty, such as Dr. John Hart, who had worked there for about 25 years in the department of neurology,” Dotson said.
Also through networking in the UT system, Dotson was able to meet his inspiration, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson.
Dotson remains a student to watch in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. He is a UT Dallas Rising Star, a Student Ambassador, an avid volunteer in many UT Dallas programs, and has now participated in summer programs at Johns Hopkins University and Yale School of Medicine.
“I met Aaron during Welcome Week of his freshman year. His commitment and initiative to maximizing his education impressed me then as it continues to do so now,” said Dr. Bert Moore, dean of BBS and the Aage and Margareta Møller Distinguished Professor. “I am confident that he is going to be a terrific doctor, and we are very pleased to have him in our program.”
