Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
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
Research Interests
health equity; stress and health; trauma; poverty; resilience; child health; adolescent health; lifecourse; self-regulation; epigenetics; brain development
Additional Links
Experiences & Accomplishments
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]