Brian Johnson, PhD Assistant Scientist Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Wisconsin-Madison

Brian Johnson is an Assistant Scientist in theDepartment of Biomedical Engineering at UWMadison. He earned his PhD in Molecular and Environmental Toxicology in Chris Bradfield’s lab using mouse models to tease apart complex, cell type specific responses related to circadian rhythms in drug metabolism and vascular development. He completed his postdoctoral training in the Microtechnology Medicine Biology (MMB) lab headed by David Beebe where he devised new practical intercellular signaling models and assays for 21st century toxicology and precision medicine. The goal of Dr. Johnsons research is to prevent developmental disease and guide personalized cancer therapy by developing quantitative approaches to identify drugs and other chemicals that disrupt critical intercellular interactions. His current K99 funded projects seek to identify chemicals that disrupt Hedgehog signaling leading to cleft palate and steroid homeostasis in human development and cancer progression. He’s also co-founded a company and earned prizes in the Transform Tox Testing Challenge (EPA/NIH) as well as an SBIR grant to commercialize these technologies.