Kathryn E. Dickerson

Kathryn E. Dickerson, M.D., M.S.C.S., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center, specializing in the Division of Hematology and Oncology. She holds dual appointments as a 2015 Translational Research Scholar in the UTSW Center for Translational Medicine and as an NIH KL2 scholar. Her clinical focus is pediatric hematology, emphasizing bone marrow failure disorders, cancer predisposition syndromes, and thalassemia/dyserythropoietic anemias. Her research investigates epigenetic regulation of myeloid malignancies, clonal hematopoiesis in childhood cancer survivors, and molecular mechanisms underlying acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and myeloproliferative disorders (MPD).

• Education:
  • Bachelor's in Biochemistry (Indiana University), minor in Spanish
  • Medical degree (Indiana University School of Medicine)
  • Masters of Science in Clinical Sciences (UT Southwestern Center for Translational Medicine)
• Training:
  • Pediatric residency with research pathway (Ohio State University/Nationwide Children’s Hospital)
  • Pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship (UT Southwestern)

Dr. Dickerson’s research bridges basic science and clinical practice, leveraging CRISPR-based epigenetic editing, genomic analysis, and translational studies to understand disease mechanisms. Key projects include interrogating enhancer dysregulation in leukemia, studying metabolic reprogramming in cancers, and evaluating clonal hematopoiesis in survivors of childhood cancers. Her work has advanced understanding of EZH2’s role in AML and identified therapeutic vulnerabilities in myeloid malignancies.

• Awards:
  • 2015 Translational Research Scholar (UTSW Center for Translational Medicine)
  • NIH KL2 Career Development Award
• Grants/Initiatives:
  • NIH-funded investigator-initiated study on clonal hematopoiesis
  • Industry/consortia-sponsored trials for bone marrow failure and rare blood disorders

She collaborates with the Children’s Research Institute and North American Pediatric Aplastic Anemia Consortium, contributing to clinical trials and translational initiatives. Her lab focuses on developing biomarkers for disease severity (e.g., immature platelet fraction in pediatric COVID-19) and therapeutic strategies targeting epigenetic dependencies in leukemia.