Charting a path of impact: Dr. Aprill Z. Dawson’s journey from Ph.D. student to award-winning faculty leader

Since earning her Ph.D. in Health & Rehabilitation Science from MUSC, Aprill Z. Dawson, Ph.D., MPH, has been on a mission to improve health outcomes for older adults living with chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, work that recently earned her the honor of 2024 Researcher of the Year in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. With a focus on advancing health equity through innovative, culturally responsive interventions, Dr. Dawson credits her MUSC training, mentors, and personal experiences for shaping a research career that is as impactful as it is deeply personal.

Since graduating from the MUSC Ph.D. in Health & Rehabilitation Science program, what has been the focus of your research and professional journey?

I am an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine (GIM) at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). My research interests are primarily in developing lifestyle and behavioral interventions for older adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and other cardiovascular disease risk factors while addressing social risk factors and being tailored to meet the needs of an older adult population. In addition, I am interested in understanding the impact of cognitive decline and functional limitations on clinical and behavioral outcomes; and in understanding mechanisms by which social determinants of health impact health outcomes of older adults in the United States and around the world.

What challenges have you faced in your research, and how have you navigated them?

As a health services researcher with an extensive health equity research portfolio, and interests in identifying multilevel strategies to improve health outcomes of racial/ethnic minority populations who often face the greatest burden of disease and disparities in cardiovascular disease risk factor outcomes, the most challenging aspect of my research today is obtaining and maintaining grant funding. With the help of my mentoring team and collaborators, I am fortunate to have been able to successfully secure grant funding within the first six months of my faculty appointment, and to have been a fully funded investigator since joining faculty in 2019. I believe it is imperative to surround yourself with a supportive team of peers and mentors. The team environment creates a safe space to brainstorm, share and receive constructive feedback, and gain social support from like-minded individuals with similar professional goals.

What aspects of the Ph.D. program were the most instrumental in shaping your work and achievements? How did the program prepare you for the complexities of research in health equity?

There are three key aspects of the CHP’s Ph.D. program that were instrumental in shaping my work and achievements:

1) The curriculum. Courses like Health and Rehabilitation Models, Evidence Based Practice for Research, Basic Academic Teaching Skills, and Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials each equipped me with skills that I apply daily as a faculty member at MCW. Specifically, I apply knowledge and skills gained from the Models and Clinical Trials courses during each grant submission as I carefully select appropriate, theory-based frameworks that serve as the foundation for answering my research questions and developing lifestyle and behavioral interventions.

2) The ability to identify an appropriate mentoring team with diverse areas of expertise needed to ensure my successful completion of my dissertation. I had the freedom to surround myself with mentors who were not only well-versed in my subject area but were also familiar with the volume of scholarly work, different funding streams, and types of proposals I would need to develop to be a competitive investigator.

3) Supportive faculty and staff in the College of Health Professions (CHP). Earning a terminal degree at times comes during a period when many are starting or maintaining families and are often juggling coursework with other roles and caregiving responsibilities. The genuine care and concern expressed by CHP faculty and staff for students’ personal and professional well-being did not go unnoticed and is an invaluable feature of the special community created within CHP.

Can you describe an impactful moment or patient story that reinforced the importance of your research?

I can’t think of one particular encounter; however, being an African American woman with family members with diabetes and other cardiovascular disease risk factors, one of whom died from diabetes-related complications shortly after I completed my degree, gives me unique insight that is relevant to my work and serves as a constant reminder of its importance.

What are your next steps in advancing health equity research? Are there new projects or collaborations you’re excited about?

This is a challenging question with the current uncertainty around federal grant funding. I remain committed to advancing research in health equity and disparities although it is hard to know what the next steps are for my research agenda or what they should be.

I am excited to share, however, that I was recently awarded a Global Health Seed Grant from the MCW Office of Global Health to conduct a mixed methods pilot study in the Dominican Republic that will examine facilitators and barriers to preventing and managing cardiovascular disease risk factors. It is my hope that this work will serve as the foundation for future collaborative grants and the development / dissemination of interventions that will lead to improved physical and mental health outcomes for residents of the middle-income country of the Dominican Republic. I was also recently awarded funds to conduct a mixed methods pilot study for older adult Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) users.

What does recognition as the 2024 Researcher of the Year mean to you, both personally and professionally? How do you hope your research will transform patient care and policy in the coming years?

It was an absolute honor to be recognized as the 2024 Researcher of the Year in GIM at MCW. To me the award serves as acknowledgement of the countless hours dedicated to helping faculty, residents, fellows, and students advance their research agendas by overseeing the Department of Medicine’s Statistical Support Team. It also signifies recognition and acknowledgement of many sleepless nights during NIH and other grant cycles. I sincerely hope that the clinical trials I conduct and manuscripts I publish will ultimately result in identification of novel and effective strategies to provide care to populations with the greatest health care needs.

What advice would you give to current Ph.D. students who aspire to make an impact in health care research?

I would advise current Ph.D. students to:

1) Work hard, stay focused, and remember you have your entire career to do impactful research that will change the world. I remember wanting to develop a dissertation topic that would be Nobel Prize worthy on my first day as a Ph.D. student. However, I was reminded that the most important thing as a Ph.D. student was to identify a research question that was significant and innovative but could also be answered in a reasonable amount of time. Finish your degree, and you’ll have your whole career to work on winning that Nobel Prize.

2) Find a research topic that you’re truly passionate about and a good supportive team of colleagues with goals and interests that align with yours. Your team will be able to provide invaluable feedback when brainstorming, may serve as collaborators on your projects, and will provide encouragement when you need it most.

3) Diversify your mentoring team. It is important to have mentors who will be able to provide guidance on many different aspects of being faculty in academic medicine from content, professionalism, negotiations, time management, navigating difficult conversations, and recognizing how and when to say no to opportunities that do not align with your personal goals.

4) Perseverance is key. Diversify your funding portfolio and apply to any and all relevant funding announcements when trying to secure funding to support your work.