Student Profile: Dickson Wong
- Where were you born and raised?
- I was born in Kingston, ON and raised in Mississauga, ON.
- What did you choose to study as a graduate student and why Western?
- As an undergraduate, I studied electrical and biomedical engineering, and I became fascinated and excited with the intersection of medicine, engineering, and physics. I wanted to work in this space and to contribute to it. And to do that, I needed some graduate training. Once Western came on my radar, I realized that scientists at CFMM and Western were leaders in this space. I was intrigued by what Terry Peters, Ravi Menon, and Robert Bartha were doing and I wanted to come here and learn from them.
- Were there any influences from your youth (past) that helped you decided the direction you have gone in?
- I was lucky enough that I had the means and the encouragement of my family to explore any interests I might have had. I enjoyed doing many things, and I used that exploration to find my direction. I entertained the ideas of becoming a musician, a graphics artist, an industrial designer, and an engineer, to name a few. Every time I had to make a decision, I followed my gut and tried to pick the option that I thought I would enjoy the most and find the most meaning in. Just sticking to this principle has lead me to where I am.
- Now that you have defended your PhD what are your plans?
- With my PhD behind me, I can focus truly on the other part of my training: learning medicine. With my medical training, and my research training, I hope that I can work as a physician-scientist in the future. I want to ask questions that would have a meaningful impact on my future patients, and to use my skills I learned here at CFMM to answer to questions.
- If you could be granted one wish what would you wish for?
- I must say, I’m lucky to be where I am today. I feel like I have everything I need, I’m living a good life, and I wouldn’t want to wish for anything else. But if I had to wish for something, I would wish for health and happiness to my friends and family and for more time spent with them.
- If you could send your younger self some advise or tell him one thing, what would that be?
- One thing that I’ve struggled with and that I still struggle with is self-confidence and dealing with uncertainty. So, if I were to tell myself one thing it might be: “Don’t worry so much about how others perceive you. Keep being curious, keep exploring, keep doing what means the most to you. If you are unsure or uncertain, lean into it. Try to figure it out and believe that there will be people to help you if you can’t. And finally, have faith that you will end up exactly where you were supposed to be.”
Links to some of Dickson's Publications:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/nbm.4002
https://aanddjournal.net/article/S1552-5260(17)30382-5/abstract
https://www.alzheimersanddementia.com/article/S1552-5260(17)31218-9/abstract
#MRI #science #CFMM #robarts #imaging #medicalbiophysics
