Skip to main content

Sara
B.
Johnson
,
PhD

Professor

Sara Johnson, MPH '01, PhD '05, studies the biological and social mechanisms that perpetuate health inequality and tests innovative interventions to protect children’s potential.

Contact Info

200 N. Wolfe Street, Room 2051
Baltimore
Maryland
21287
US        
410-502-5440

Research Interests

health equity; stress and health; trauma; poverty; resilience; child health; adolescent health; lifecourse; self-regulation; epigenetics; brain development

Experiences & Accomplishments
Education
PhD
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
2005
MPH
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
2001
BA
University of California, Los Angeles
1997
Overview

Sara Johnson is Blanket Fort Foundation Professor in Pediatric Population Health and Health Equity Research. Her research aims to describe and explain the biological and social mechanisms through which early life experiences (e.g., chronic stress, poverty, other adversities) shape health and behavior across the life course and across generations. She also translates this work into practice by developing and testing interventions to reduce health and educational inequality, particularly in school settings. She is the Director of the Rales Center for the Integration of Health and Education and Program Director for Johns Hopkins General Academic Pediatrics Fellowship Program.

Honors & Awards

Elected member, American Pediatric Society, 2023

Pioneer in Children’s Wellbeing Award, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Ashoka Changemakers, 2016
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Leadership Development Program in Population Health Science, 2105
Advising, Mentoring and Teaching Recognition Award (AMTRA), 2013
JHSPH Excellence in Teaching Award, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014
Delta Omega, Alpha Chapter, national public health honor society, 2006
William Haddon, Jr. Fellowship in Injury Prevention, 2004-2005
Phi Beta Kappa, 1997

Select Publications

Selected publications.

  • Johnson SB, Riis JL, Noble KG. State of the Art Review: Poverty and the Developing Brain. Pediatrics. 2016 Mar 7. pii: peds.2015-3075. [Epub ahead of print] Review. PubMed PMID: 26952506.

  • Riis JL, Granger DA, Minkovitz CS, Bandeen-Roche K, DiPietro JA, Johnson SB. Maternal distress and child neuroendocrine and immune regulation. Soc Sci Med. 2016 Feb;151:206-14.

  • Johnson SB, Riley AW, Granger DA, Riis JA.  The science of early life toxic stress for pediatric practice and advocacy. Pediatrics, 2013;131(2):319–327.

  • Johnson SB, Blum RW, Giedd JN. Adolescent maturity and the brain: the promise and pitfalls of neuroscience research in adolescent health policy. J Adolesc Health. 2009 Sep;45(3):216-21.

  • Bair-Merritt MH, Voegtline K, Granger DA, Ghazarian SR, The Family Life Project Investigators, Johnson SB. Maternal intimate partner violence exposure, child cortisol reactivity and child asthma. Child Abuse and Neglect. 2015; 58:50-57 [PMCID: 4446253]

Projects
Text4Father