好色先生

Education

POSTGRADUATE:
Emory University
Postdoctoral Fellowship: Pediatric Infectious Diseases

GRADUATE:
好色先生 of Medicine
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Sciences

UNDERGRADUATE:
Clark Atlanta University
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Biology

Research Interests

Dr. Johnson鈥檚 research focuses on understanding correlates of fetal protection during pregnancy, defining mechanisms of natural immune control and determining how these can be exploited to develop interventions that reduce or prevent negative outcomes during pregnancy or in the infant.  Her lab also investigates the impact of maternal stressors on epigenetic modification in the mother-infant dyad during pregnancy. Dr. Johnson鈥檚 studies have advanced the understanding of placental immunology during gestation, innate protection against MTCT of HIV, HCMV, SARS-CoV-2 and ZIKV, along with neonatal immune responses to maternal inflammation and viral infections.  Her current research goals are to (1) define the dynamics of innate immune signaling in macrophages at the maternal-fetal interface and their control of HIV and HCMV during pregnancy; (2) determine the mechanisms by which maternal HCMV promotes in utero HIV transmission; and (3) elucidate the impact of maternal exposures (viral infections or stressors) and co-morbidities (BMI or hypertension) on the placenta and developing fetal immune system.

Publications

• Schuch V, Hossack D, Hailstorks T, Chakraborty R and Johnson EL (2026) Distinct immune responses to HIV and CMV in Hofbauer cells across gestation highlight evolving placental immune dynamics. Front. Immunol. 17:1832988. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1832988
• Schuch V, Bashi A, Hossack D, Adekambi T, Joseph T, Wilson C, Olanrewaju R, Dawning A, Sintim-Aboagye E, Enninga EA, Chakraborty R and Johnson EL (2026) Increasing maternal BMI is associated with compartment-specific immune-metabolic remodeling across the maternal鈥損lacental鈥揻etal axis. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, Embryonic Development. 1899628.
• Schuch V, Mukherjee I, de Carvalho ARN, Olanrewaju R, Davis J, Thomas S, Chakraborty R, Johnson EL. Placental biology links genetic, epigenetic, ancestral, and social determinants to maternal-fetal health inequities. Front Reprod Health. 2026;8:1783837. doi: 10.3389/frph.2026.1783837. eCollection 2026. Review. PubMed PMID: 42064409; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13124936.
• Huang MB, Yan F, Jadoon U, Wu JY, Brena D, Johnson EL, Stiles J, Yang L, Rivers BM, Bond VC. SMR Peptide Modulates Tumor-Derived Extracellular Vesicles microRNA and Inflammatory Transcript Signatures in TNBC. Cells. 2026 Mar 19;15(6). doi: 10.3390/cells15060550. PubMed PMID: 41892339; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13025785.
• Bashi A, Joseph T, Schuch V, Johnson EL. Modeling human placental biology: a review of organoid technologies. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2025;13:1693923. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1693923. eCollection 2025. Review. PubMed PMID: 41561629; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12812998.
• Awai A, Johnson EL, Leng T, Patrickson J, Zody MC, Lillard JW Jr, On Behalf Of The Nygc Als Consortium. Stratifying ALS Patients by Mode of Inheritance Reveals Transcriptomic Signatures Specific to sALS and fALS. Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Sep 22;26(18). doi: 10.3390/ijms26189234. PubMed PMID: 41009796; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12470382. ct
• Sintim-Aboagye E, Quach HQ, Sherman W, Farnan S, Otrubova K, Verma N, Littlefield D, Punia S, Johnson E, Blackstad M, Schleiss MR, Norgan AP, Gray CM, Enninga EAL, Chakraborty R. Spatial Analysis of Placentae During Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection Reveals Distinct Cellular Profiles in Immune Cells and Trophoblasts. bioRxiv. 2025 Apr 10;. doi: 10.1101/2025.04.04.647170. PubMed PMID: 40291677; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12026742.
• Heng F, Magaret CA, Rouphael NG, Branche AR, Fong Y, , Coronavirus Variant Immunologic Landscape Trial (COVAIL) Study Team. The neutralizing antibody titer correlate of COVID-19 risk in the COVID-19 variant immunologic landscape (COVAIL) trial was not modified by SARS-CoV-2 amino acid sequence distances. Vaccine. 2026 Mar 19;76:128348. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128348. Epub 2026 Feb 15. PubMed PMID: 41698311; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC13008134.
• Williams A, Hossack DJ, Thompson N, Sim YE, Wilson C, Schuch V, Hailstorks T, Chakraborty R, Johnson EL. Elevated levels of exogenous prolactin promote inflammation at the maternal-fetal interface via the JAK2/STAT5B signaling axis. Front Immunol. 2024 Dec 23;15:1496610. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1496610. PMID: 39763651; PMCID: PMC11701216.
• Joseph TT, Schuch V, Hossack DJ, Chakraborty R, Johnson EL. Melatonin: the placental antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Front Immunol. 2024 Feb 1;15:1339304. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1339304. PMID: 38361952; PMCID: PMC10867115.
• Enninga EAL, Quach HQ, Jang JS, de Araujo Correia MCM, Fedyshyn Y, Fedyshyn B, Lemens M, Littlefield D, Behl S, Sintim-Aboagye E, Mejia Plazas MC, Cardenas MC, Chakraborty S, Yamaoka S, Ebihara H, Pandey A, Li H, Badley AD, Johnson EL, Sun J, Norgan AP, Theiler RN, Chakraborty R. Maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy disrupts gene expression in Hofbauer cells with limited impact on cytotrophoblasts. PLoS Pathog. 2024 Feb;20(2):e1011990. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011990. eCollection 2024 Feb. PubMed PMID: 38324589; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10878512.

Honors and Awards

2024 - Mid-Career Investigator of the Year, MSM
2024 - The President's Tx Award, MSM
2021 - Professional Achievement Award for PhD in Biomedical Sciences
2013 - 2016 - Young Investigator Award, CROI
2014 - Best Oral Research Award, HIV Science
2010 - NIH New Investigator Award, NIH
2006 - Lindau Nobel Laureates Scholar
2005 - 2007 - Minority Scholar in Cancer Research, AACR