Dr. Hickson obtained a PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology in Glasgow, UK, before undertaking postdoctoral training under Prof. Patrick O’Farrell at the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco. There he obtained a Career Development award from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for his work elucidating the mechanisms of cell division. He also obtained a Chercheur-Boursier Junior 1 salary award from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQS) in 2009.