Dr. Hekman is studying the brains of dogs to help us better understand the genomics of canine behavior.
Have you heard? A dog zombie exists!
Don’t worry, I’m not talking about an undead canine who craves brains, but about scientist Dr. Jessica Hekman, who studies dog brains and goes by the nickname The Dog Zombie. She is one of those rare, highly intelligent humans who has retained a sense of humor while obtaining degree after degree after degree.
Her first degree came from Harvard University. Next she enrolled in a five-year program to obtain her DVM and a master’s degree from Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, where she had an internal dialogue about focusing on clinical medicine or research. Her interest in research won the debate, and she has been looking at the most important decision-making apparatus in dogs: the brain. Dr. Hekman is now completing her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studying the genomics of dog behavior.