Sara Johnson, MPH, PhD
Highlights
Languages
- English
Gender
FemaleJohns Hopkins Affiliations:
- Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Faculty
About Sara Johnson
Professional Titles
- Director, General Academic Pediatrics Fellowship
- Director, Rales Center for the Integration of Health and Education
Primary Academic Title
Professor of Pediatrics
Background
Sara Johnson is the Blanket Fort Foundation Professor in Pediatric Population Health and Health Equity Research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She also holds joint appointments in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health and the Department of Mental Health in the Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is Director of the Rales Center for the Integration of Health and Education and Director of the General Academic Pediatrics Fellowship Program.
Her research focuses on understanding the biological and social mechanisms that perpetuate health inequalities across the life course and across generations and ways to interrupt them. In addition, she develops and tests new models of school health to reduce health and educational inequality in Baltimore.
Centers and Institutes
Rales Center for the Integration of Health and Education
Johns Hopkins Children's Center
Contact for Research Inquiries
200 N Wolfe St, Rm 2051
Baltimore, MD
Phone: (410) 614-8437
sjohnson@jhu.edu
Research Interests
Health equity, child health, adolescent health, school health, population health, neurodevelopment, social drivers, poverty, stress, adversity, biomarkers, prevention science.
Research Summary
Dr. Johnson’s research focuses on understanding how adversity in early life shapes the biology of child health and development and interventions to help ensure that every child has an opportunity to reach their full health and educational potential.
Selected Publications
Johnson SB, Edwards A, Cheng T, Kelleher K, Kaminski J, Fox EG. Vital signs for pediatric health: Chronic absenteeism. NAM Perspectives. June 26, 2023. National Academy of Medicine, Washington, DC.https://doi.org/10.31478/202306c.
Johnson SB, Raghunathan R, Li M, Nair D, Matson PA. Moving up but not getting ahead: Family socioeconomic position in pregnancy, social mobility, and child cognitive development in the first seven years of life. Social Science and Medicine Population Health. 2022; 101064: doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101064
Johnson SB, Riis JA, Noble K. State of the art review: Poverty and the developing brain. Pediatrics. 2016; 137(4): e20153075. [PMCID: 4811314]
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. [PMCID: 4074672]
Johnson SB, Voegtline KM, Ialongo N, Hill K, Musci RJ. Self-control in first grade predicts success in the transition to adulthood. Development & Psychopathology. 2022; 24:1-13. doi: 10.1017/S0954579421001255
Habib DRS, Klein LM, Perrin AJ, Perrin EM, Johnson SB. The role of primary care in advancing civic engagement and health equity: A conceptual framework. Milbank Quarterly, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12661.
Honors
- Children's Health Pioneer Award, Ashoka/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 9/1/16
- Advising, Mentoring and Teaching Recognition Award, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 1/1/13
- Excellence in Teaching Award, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 1/1/11
- Delta Omega, Alpha Chapter, Honorary Society in Public Health, 1/1/06
- William Haddon, Jr. Fellowship in Injury Prevention, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 1/1/04
- Phi Beta Kappa, 1/1/97
Graduate Program Affiliations
Johns Hopkins General Pediatrics Fellowship
Population, Family and Reproductive Health
Mental Health