About me
A lifelong Texan, Grayson R. Jackson was raised in Grapevine and attended Baylor University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2020. At Baylor, Grayson studied biology, public health, and medical humanities as a University Scholar and completed the Honors Program and the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core while maintaining a perfect GPA. He was named a Hillis Scholar in Biomedical Science and a Texas finalist for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship and inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Grayson was introduced to scientific research in an environmental science lab at Baylor where he investigated lead-contaminated soil and childhood lead exposure. He also spent two summers at the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development in Houston where he conducted projects related to antigen cloning and purification for neglected tropical diseases like schistosomiasis and dirofilariasis. This research inspired his honors thesis, which explored the intersections of vaccine hesitancy with populism, political polarization, and public policy. Aside from his undergraduate studies, Grayson was also actively involved as a trumpet player and staff member in the Golden Wave Marching Band and as a member of student government, in which he helped organize Baylor’s inaugural mental health awareness week.
Grayson is currently an M.D.‒Ph.D. student at the University of Texas Medical Branch with aspirations to become a physician-ethicist and medical educator. His clinical interests include infectious diseases and LGBTQ+ health, and he is pursuing a Ph.D. at the Institute for Bioethics & Health Humanities to study clinical and public health ethics and the intersection between ethics and health policy. A proponent of interdisciplinary education, Grayson also studies in the Interprofessional Scholars Program and the global and public health tracks. Since moving from Waco to Galveston, Grayson has volunteered at St. Vincent’s through the Interprofessional (IP) Clinic, Congestive Heart Failure Comprehensive Care Clinic (CHFC3), and Grace Clinic at Central Methodist Church of Galveston. He is president of Allies in Health, a medical student delegate and MSS delegation co-chair to the Texas Medical Association, president of the MD-PhD Student Association, vice president of Music in Medicine, and past president of the Pediatric Student Association. In 2021, Grayson received the John P. McGovern Student Award in Oslerian Medicine. Also in 2021, Grayson was honored as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow for the Houston-Galveston region and currently serves as a board member. He serves on numerous committees across UTMB, including the Institutional Ethics Committee, Institutional Diversity Council, SOGI Data Committee, and the LCME Independent Student Analysis Committee, which he chairs.
