Thomas L. Dawson Jr. PhD

Dr. Dawson is a Senior Principal Investigator at the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) Institute for Medical Biology (IMB) in Singapore. He is a research scientist and author on more than 50 original articles, book chapters, papers, and other scientific communications, including authoring the Dandruff and Hair Growth chapters of Cosmetic Dermatology for several editions. While at the Procter & Gamble Co. Dr. Dawson’s research team discovered the fungal cause of dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis, identified the key microbes, Malassezia, and discovered and launched new technology in Head & Shoulders (the worlds largest shampoo brand). He also leads the Malassezia Research Consortium, a global multi-disciplinary collaboration on Malassezia biology, genomics, and pathogenicity.

Dr. Dawson’s hair and scalp research is focused on stopping or reversing changes in women’s hair with age and menopause, via intervention in the metabolism and function of anagen hair follicles. A recent hair biology advance led to the development of a successful in-market technology that improves the diameter of women’s scalp hair.

Dr. Dawson was recognized with the “John Smale” award as Procter & Gamble’s top technologist in 2002, and he is appointed to the faculty of Miami University (Ohio) Department of Botany as Adjunct Assistant Professor and the Department of Biochemistry and Drug Discovery at the Medical University of South Carolina as an Adjunct Professor. Prior to joining A*STAR, IMB Dr. Dawson was a Senior Principal Investigator at the Procter & Gamble Co. where he led the Life Sciences Innovation team for the Singapore Innovation Center. He was a Fellow in Pediatrics with Duke University Medical Center and investigated genetic metabolic disease, including the development of a Pompe Disease treatment (Myozyme). He earned his Ph.D. at the Lineberger Cancer Center at UNC-CH, where he studied breast cancer, a novel human proto-oncogene, c-mer; and ROS in orthotopic liver transplantation. Dr. Dawson grew up in WV and earned a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from West Virginia University.