Doctor Hogan doesn’t pretend he was a top-of-the-class student at school, but hard work since then has led to his inauguration of the Askwith Research Professorship in Food Allergy in the University of Michigan Medical School. 

He is the head of a research team within the Mary H Weiser Food Allergy Center Department of Pathology Michigan Medicine and their work is something millions of people could benefit from. 

The research group’s primary focus is to better understand the biological processes that control severe food-induced reactions. 

“The reason this is important is there is currently no test whereby doctors can predict whether a person if they have exposure to an allergic food will have a mild food allergic reaction such as hives or whether they may have a very severe reaction that left untreated may lead to death,” he said. 

“My group which consists of undergraduate and graduate students and also international scholars are tasked with the objective of trying to better understand the biological processes that control severe food-induced anaphylactic reactions.

“A better understanding of these biological processes will lead to the development of novel therapeutic approaches that we can target and specifically block and therefore prevent a severe food reaction from occurring.” 

While Dr Hogan’s work is certainly ground-breaking, he said growing up and attending school in Leeton, he was never a “straight-A” student. 

“School was definitely not easy for me –  you can ask my teachers,” he said. 

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“I was definitely not a straight-A student. In fact, I wasn’t even a straight-B student.

“If I remember correctly my report cards often consisted of what I would call a beautiful splattering of As, Bs and Cs.

“However, I had my goals of what I wanted to achieve, steadily worked towards achieving those, with the occasional setback here and there. 

“I gradually one-by-one ticked them off and here I am. I still have many goals that remain unticked and the occasional setback, but I am steadily working towards achieving these goals.”

Dr Hogan thanked his past teachers in Leeton, praising them for helping him get to where he is today. 

He said those students currently sitting behind desks in town should know they too can achieve whatever their heart is set on no matter where they come from or who they are. 

“You can achieve big things as long as you stay focused on the task or tasks at hand, don’t listen or get caught up in all the noise and importantly have fun in the process,” Dr Hogan said.

“You know what to do. Don’t get lazy or distracted and start listening to the noise, stay true to yourself and buckle down and capitalize on all your abilities.

“I can promise you, you will be truly amazed what opportunities and excitement life and this great world can bring, beyond what you would have ever imagined.”

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