David Johnson Shares Expertise in Research

Dr. David Johnson discusses plans for the transgenic core facility with Dr. Lynn Doglio, director of core operations.

As Northwestern University's associate vice president for research for four years, David Johnson, PhD, had many goals. But perhaps the most important goal was also the simplest. "I went to work every day wanting to help people," says the native of Gloucestershire, England.

It is with that same goal in mind that in December 2003 he accepted the Feinberg School of Medicine's offer to become its first associate dean for research operations.

In this role, Dr. Johnson contributes his expertise in areas including research funding, technology transfer, core research facilities, and animal care. In announcing Dr. Johnson's appointment, medical school Dean Lewis Landsberg, MD, remarked, "The Feinberg School of Medicine and its faculty members will benefit greatly from Dave's experience in medical research. One area of focus will be extramural funding opportunities, such as construction grants and program project grants."

Educated in the United Kingdom, Dr. Johnson earned his bachelor's degree in biochemistry from University College in Cardiff, Wales. He obtained his master's degree in neurochemistry from the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London and doctoral degree in biochemistry from the university's Institute of Neurology.

"I completed my PhD work at a neurologic hospital in London and became interested in diseases of the brain. My PhD dissertation was on phenylketonuria, a brain disease in newborns. But I was interested in multiple sclerosis [MS] too, because my mentor was an MS researcher," he explains. "He helped arrange for me to conduct MS research at the National Institutes of Health [NIH]. I worked on MS for my entire research career."

The son of a pharmacist, Dr. Johnson had wanted to become a veterinarian throughout his boyhood years but was redirected to human health by an encouraging high school biology teacher. After his NIH fellowship and a visiting associate appointment in the Section of Myelin and Brain Development at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Dr. Johnson was chosen for a research fellowship in neuroscience at Children's Hospital in Boston. He simultaneously was a research fellow in neurology at Harvard Medical School.

"I enjoy solving problems and unraveling mysteries," he shares. "Conducting biomedical research is a chance to do intellectually stimulating work that has the potential to do good for others. I received funding from the national MS society and had a fair amount of contact with MS patients. I appreciated the chance to talk about my research with them. In addition, as assistant professor of neuroscience at Harvard, I met students from around the world who would come to our labs for training. I enjoyed that too."

After a decade of research in an increasingly competitive funding environment, Johnson decided to switch gears. He explains, "Like many academics, I had done administrative work on the side, participating in committees and advising students. I took a liking to that. In research, the rewards are long-term and not guaranteed, whereas in administration you can help people and solve problems in the shorter term. It was a different sort of problem-solving, but still fulfilling."

In 1993 he joined Northwestern as assistant chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Physiology on the Evanston campus. "It is a small department, with only a dozen or so faculty members, but very successful, with one of the highest ratios of grant awards per faculty member. The chair was hands-off, so I was able to do everything, from budgeting to recruiting," he recalls. "I enjoyed parts of it more than others, but it was a central position with much activity. I also did a great deal of undergraduate advising, which was a new experience for me, and found that most rewarding."

While assistant department chair, Dr. Johnson was tapped in 1998 to serve as the University's interim associate vice president for research administration. He was offered the position of associate VP for research the following year. "Research administration is the underpinning infrastructure for research---making sure grants are submitted and handled appropriately, animal and human subjects are being treated as they should, and research is being conducted safely," he explains. "I had been on the other side of the fence as a researcher, so I knew what was involved in all these areas.

"My priorities were in part based on where the complaints were. Regarding animals for instance, the complaints weren't so much related to how the animals were being treated as they were to the administration of the animal facility not being very user friendly. Also, the general feeling among the faculty seemed to be that research administration wasn't there to serve them. I tried to dispel that by improving communication—listening to their concerns, calling them back when I knew the answer, or finding someone else who did."

Familiar with the medical school's research strengths and goals from his years as associate VP, Dr. Johnson welcomed the opportunity to return to his roots in biomedical research by joining the Feinberg School leadership. "My broad brief is to help grow research at the medical school," says Dr. Johnson, whose Tarry Building office is across the hall from research labs. "We have big plans. We want to increase our standing in rankings, expand research funding, and grow technology transfer activity.

"One part of supporting the growing research enterprise is helping to ensure that our core facilities are working as they should. For instance, I have been involved in the logistics of relocating the transgenic core from Children's Memorial Hospital to the Tarry Building. I also continue to work with the Center for Comparative Medicine to plan a smooth transition into the new facilities in the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center and to decide how the current animal care space should be used once the transition is complete."

In this newly created position that he is still defining, Dr. Johnson is pleased to help out wherever he can and to learn as much as possible about the issues facing researchers and research administrators alike. "There's a good buzz down here. The medical school is doing well, and people are committed," he observes. "It's a positive place to be."