Dr. Johnson earned his undergraduate degree at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1968 and his M.D. degree from the University of Connecticut Medical School, Farmington, Connecticut, in 1976. He performed his residency in the Department of Anatomic Pathology at the University of Connecticut Medical School from 1977-1979, then became an Assistant Professor in that same Department in 1979. In 1980, Dr. Johnson moved to the University of Michigan where he became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 1983 and Full Professor in 1988. He serves as the Director of the Morphology Core for the Department of Pathology. The major areas of study for Dr. Johnson include clinical interests in the immunopathological evaluation of skin and renal biopsies, and research interests, broadly characterized, which deal with the pathogenesis of inflammation, particularly the acute inflammatory response and the role of matrix metalloproteinases in prostate cancer. These interests have led to significant NIH-sponsored research support.

 Inflammation and oxygen radicals.