Abilene Dobson

M.D./Ph.D. Student

About Me

I grew up in Utah and have always been fascinated by science and particularly biology and the human body! I moved to Florida to study biomedical engineering at UF and escape winters. While there, I fell in love with research and learned about MD/PhD programs. In San Antonio, I'm excited to continue learning and avoiding the cold!

Hobbies/Interests

Drawing, painting, weightlifting, snorkeling/scuba diving 

Research Topic

Currently interested in cancer immunology

Why I chose MD/PhD

I wanted to have an impact on individual people's lives by caring for them personally as a physician, but also be able to have a wider impact on how care changes in the future by researching new treatment options.

Why I chose MD/PhD at UT Health San Antonio

I love that the students here are able to continue their lives throughout the program! Many are married, own homes, have pets/kids, enjoy several hobbies, etc. Being encouraged to have a life outside of the program was definitely attractive!

Education

B.S., Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, 2025

Publications

Lundin, B.F.*, Knight, G.T.*, Fedorchak, N.J., Krucki, K., Iyer, N., Maher, J., Izban, N., Roberts, A., Cicero, M., Robinson, J., Iskandar, B., Willett, R., & Ashton, R.S. (2024). RosetteArray® Platform for Quantitative High-Throughput Screening of Human Neurodevelopmental Risk. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.01.587605

Widener, A.E., Roberts, A., & Phelps, E.A. (2023). Granular Hydrogels for Harnessing the Immune Response. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 13(25). https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.202303005

Widener, A.E., Roberts, A., & Phelps, E.A. (2023). Single versus dual microgel species for forming guest-host microporous annealed particle PEG-MAL hydrogel. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part A, 111(9), 1379-1389. http://doi.org/10.1002/jbm.a.37540