Postdoctoral training was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania and the National Institute on Drug Abuse Addiction Research Center.
Dawson joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1994 as an assistant professor in the departments of Neurology, Neuroscience and Physiology.
Their research studies the molecular mechanisms that lead to neuronal cell death in neurodegenerative diseases, stroke and trauma.
They discovered the critical role the gaseous transmitter, nitric oxide (NO), plays in glutamate excitotoxicity[8][9] and stroke[10] with their postdoctoral mentor, Dr. Solomon H. Snyder.
They discovered that poly (ADP-ribose) polymer (PAR) is a novel cell death signaling molecule that plays a critical role in neuronal injury.
[24] The enzyme that degrades PAR, poly (ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase, is not only an endogenous negative regulator of parthanatos, but required for cell viability.
[25] In genetic screens to find cell signals that prevent neurotoxicity, her team discovered an endogenous inhibitor of parthanatos, Iduna (RNF146), a first in class PAR-dependent E3 ligase.
[32][33] With the discovery of gene mutations that are the cause of rare familial cases of Parkinson's disease, their research team has probed the biologic and pathologic actions of these proteins.
[47] Their work continues to provide critical insights into understanding of the pathogenesis of PD and identify new opportunities for therapies to treat patients with Parkinson's disease.