Johnson to join faculty August 15

On August 15, the Program in Occupational Therapy will welcome Brian Johnson, PhD, OTR/L, assistant professor of occupational therapy and neurology (PEFA), to its faculty. He will serve as a mentor in our PhD in Rehabilitation and Participation Science degree program and our Clinical Doctorate of Occupational Therapy degree program.

Dr. Johnson earned his bachelor’s degree in occupational science and technology in 2011 and his master’s degree in occupational therapy in 2012 from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He earned his doctoral degree in physical rehabilitation science in 2019 from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. In addition, Dr. Johnson was an adjunct professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at the University of Maryland from 2019-2022. He completed his postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health in 2022.

His clinical employment includes currently serving as an occupational therapist for the United States Army Reserve and as an occupational therapist at the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins Medical Institute from 2015-2019. Johnson’s volunteer positions include the District of Columbia Medical Reserve Corps (2020-present) and the American Red Cross (2008-2012 and 2015-2019).

Johnson’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying human motor learning and memory consolidation to improve and develop motor training and rehabilitation for individuals with neurologic diagnoses. He employs measures of performance and physiology to understand motor learning and consolidation in healthy younger and older adults, as well as individuals with a history of stroke. Johnson’s ultimate goal is to create new interventions that enhance consolidation and subsequent motor function and independence.