Research Overview
Dr. Johnson's career has been committed to research and training in resource poor countries. He has characterized and defined therapies for major infectious diseases in the developing world (AIDS, leishmaniasis, isosporiasis, and leptospirosis). Concurrent with this research, he has established outstanding training programs in Brazil, Haiti and Tanzania which are paradigms of global health collaboration. The quality of the research is attested to by his uninterrupted NIH support in Brazil since 1978 and in Haiti since 1983, including a NIH Merit Award (1990). Dr. Johnson and colleagues conducted long-term studies on leishmaniasis in Brazil, integrating epidemiology, molecular biology and immunology. He defined risk factors, the natural history, immunological paradigms, pioneered the use of cytokines as therapy, and recently described a new form of leishmaniasis. His contributions have been recognized by his election to the Brazilian National Academy of Sciences. In Haiti, Dr. Johnson established the “Cornell-GHESKIO Program”, with his former student, Dr. Jean Pape. In 1983, Dr. Johnson and his collaborators in Haiti were the first to describe AIDS in a developing country. They validated therapies for the major complications of HIV (tuberculosis, diarrhea) and led efforts to expand access to these therapies in Haiti and the rest of the developing world.
