Care as Calling

Though only an undergraduate, Madison Johnson has already become a leader and convenor in the world of cancer research.

In Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC, Theologian Frederick Buechner gives a thought-provoking definition of vocation. Far beyond a mere job, Buechner muses that “the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

At Pepperdine, Seaver student Madison Johson found just such a place.

By her junior year of College, Madison Johnson had engineered CRISPR systems, worked in one of Europe’s premier cancer research centers, and published clinical trial synopses. Then she stood in a room with a patient and watched as a newly developed medication changed a life. Nothing else came close.

That moment, she says, "cemented my determination to become a medical oncologist and serve patients in the drug development realm."

Reflecting back on her action-packed four years of undergrad, Madison recalls with gratitude the guiding hand of Providence over her academic career:

“Everything that has led me up until this point has been a God thing. When I started looking back, I realized that I never planned all the individual steps to get here, and I am just so grateful for his hand over my life.”

The chain reaction began in her first year of college.

Already fascinated by CRISPR — the gene-editing technology rewriting the possibilities of modern medicine — Madison wanted an understanding that went beyond the textbook. In just her second semester on campus, she walked into the office of Antonio Gomez, an assistant professor of biology, and asked to join his genetics research lab. He said yes.

“It was my first experience with research,” Madison recalls. “As a student researcher, throughout that summer I gained a lot of confidence as a scientist, and I started to see myself as one. Having that experience so early in my college experience set me on this path, and I became super excited for the three years to come.”

While studying at Pepperdine’s Heidelberg campus, she consulted her professors about internship opportunities in the area. Before long, she found herself interviewing at the German Cancer Research Center — the DKFZ — one of the most prestigious cancer research institutions in the world. She got the position, extended her stay in Europe, and stepped into the laboratory as the only non-PhD student in the room.

Working alongside postdoctoral fellow Ashish Goyal, Madison spent the summer studying cancer cell lines in mice, investigating whether the drug decitabine could create antigen targets on the surface of cancer cells — effectively painting a target for the immune system to attack.

“It was my first time being surrounded by adult collaborators. The experience bolstered my professional development. It made me learn how to be confident in a fast-paced environment where there are many new things to learn every day.”

Following her junior year, Madison interned at Sarah Cannon Research Institute, the cancer research arm of HCA Healthcare. She was drawn to its mission: bringing clinical trials to patients who do not live near major university research hospitals.

At Sarah Cannon, Madison worked with personalized medicine and therapeutic development teams, learning how patients were matched to emerging clinical trials and drafting conference synopses summarizing the latest research. She also did something the lab could never have fully prepared her for: she shadowed practicing oncologists and stood in rooms with patients fighting for their lives.

The value of cancer research was no longer an abstract idea; it was embodied in the life-and-death struggles of the real patients she came to know and love.

Madison left her internship with the desire to expose more people to what she now knew.  This led to the birth of Pepperdine’s first-ever Oncology Symposium.

Held on February 25, 2026, the event brought together doctors, scientists, and patients to share cutting-edge breakthroughs in cancer care and gave other undergraduate students a platform to present their own research. Madison handled nearly every dimension of the symposium: marketing, speaker recruitment, logistics, and the cultivation of a space where curious learners and seasoned specialists could sit in the same room.

“I had this idea, but I wasn’t expecting anyone to hand me the reins. It’s been surreal to realize ‘I can do this.’ And now I’m excited by the chance to share with my peers something that’s been so formative for me.”

For Madison, the symposium is the culmination of an undergraduate career defined by a surrender to her faith:

“I want to be an oncologist; I want to serve patients. The process of learning this has taken my faith to another level. Over the past few years, I’ve seen things that are so unfair, that don’t make sense. Of course, I want to change the situations, find solutions, but, ultimately, I’ve realized you have to surrender everything right at Jesus’s feet. You have to trust God.”

If Buechner is right about vocation and calling, Madison is one student among many who have found not merely a job at Pepperdine but a vocation — a calling in life in which their unique giftings are met with the training and skills to serve a world in need.