Robert A. Johnson, PhD FAHA Associate Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology. Principal Investigator

Robert Johnson is an Associate Professor of Physiology and the founder of the Integrative Cardiovascular Physiology Laboratory at Tulane's Department of Physiology. Dr. Johnson received his Doctorate in Physiology with Ronald Freeman at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1992 and then did postdoctoral training with Alberto Nasjletti at New York Medical College. During 1998, Dr. Johnson was a Brazilian sponsored Visiting Professor studying neuro-cardiovascular integration with Eduardo Colombari at Escola Paulista de Medicina in Sao Paulo Brazil. Upon his return to the United States, Dr. Johnson accepted an appointment as an Assistant Professor with the Tulane's Department of Physiology. In 2004, Dr. Johnson was promoted to tenured Associate Professor at Tulane University. In 2006, Dr. Johnson was recruited as an Associate Professor to the Trauma and Emergency Medicine Division of the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Most recently, Dr. Johnson has settled at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate Tennessee, with the Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology at the newly established DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Johnson's major research interests include cardiovascular, renal and neurophysiology, mechanisms of hypertension, and biological roles for porphyrin and gaseous messengers. His early work demonstrated the importance of the intra-renal nitric oxide system in regulating renal function and controlling blood pressure. In subsequent studies, Dr. Johnson provided the seminal studies which provided compelling evidence that endogenously-formed carbon monoxide influences blood pressure by serving as a neuromodulator, and as a messenger within the vascular smooth muscle and the endothelium. Such studies have provided new insights into cardiovascular-regulatory mechanisms which can be altered by heavy-metal poisoning, in hypertensive models or during shock.

His research is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the the Department of Defense. He has authored numerous publications including two reviews, and a book chapter. Dr. Johnson is a member of the American Physiological Society and is active in the Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis Section, the Cardiovascular Section and the Renal Section. He is also a dual Fellow of the American Heart Association Council for High Blood Pressure Research and a member of the Microcirculatory Society.

Current Curriculum Vitae

Publications

The Integrative Core Laboratory is located at LMU in Harrogate TN.