Karen C. Johnson

Karen C. Johnson (born 1955) is a research professor in the Departments of Preventive Medicine and Medicine in the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). She has been involved in at least five clinical world trials, including a Women's health initiative, the SPRINT Trial, the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Study, the TARGIT Study and the D2d Trial. She has been noted by Thomson Reuters as one of the world's most-cited scientists.[1]

Karen C. Johnson
Born
Karen Lynn Chandler

1955 (age 64–65)
Memphis, Tennessee
Other namesKaren Chandler Johnson
Alma materLambuth University
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Johns Hopkins University
Occupationphysician, preventative health researcher, professor
Years active1990-
EmployerUniversity of Tennessee Health Science Center

Biography

Karen Lynn Chandler was born in 1955 in Memphis, Tennessee,[2] to Colie Edward and Cecilia Chandler[3] and grew up in Memphis, attending the Memphis Preparatory School. She continued her education earning an undergraduate degree at Lambuth University[4] in 1978.[5] She went on to earn her MD distinction at the University of Tennessee in 1985[6] and a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University after her marriage.[5] In 1990, she returned to her alma mater and joined the faculty of the UTHSC.[6]

Johnson has been a significant contributor to the university's research funding drives, bringing in $40 million toward her five on-going research projects. One of the projects, a Women's Health Initiative, began in 1993 and is evaluating diseases that effect women. The clinical trial involves more than 160,000 women.[7] One of their findings was that women who consume two or more diet soft drinks each day face higher risks of heart problems than women who either don't drink them at all or drink them rarely.[8] Another of her trials was the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), which concluded in 2015. Its findings were that intervention could have a major impact on reducing blood pressure levels.[9] Johnson is also the lead researcher on the Look AHEAD Study of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, which started in 2001 evaluating whether people with type 2 diabetes can prevent heart attack and other cardiovascular problems with weight loss and higher levels of physical activity. The study had been stopped in 2012, as preliminary indications of the 5,000 test subjects[10] did not show positive changes from lifestyle intervention at the expected rates. Modifications[11] in the program allowed it to be continued in 2014.[10] In 2012, Johnson launched a clinic trial called TARGIT (Treating Adults at Risk for Weight Gain with Interactive Technology) funded by the National Institutes of Health. The program is designed to use iPod applications[12] to support smoking cessation while eliminating weight-gain.[4] In 2014, she began working on the D2d Trial (vitamin D and type 2 diabetes) aimed at determining if vitamin D intake lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes.[13]

From 2010 to 2014, Johnson served as the interim Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at UTHSC.[14] In 2014, she was awarded the Kathryn Sullivan Bowld Endowment Fund Professorship in Women's Health from the College of Medicine at UTHSC.[7] Johnson has been cited by Thomson Reuters as one of the most influential scientific publishers in the world.[15]

References
  1. "The World's Most Influential Scientific Minds" (PDF). Thomson Reuters. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  2. "Karen Lynn Chandler Johnson". Yumpu. February 24, 2012. p. 1. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  3. "Memphis-area obituaries for Wednesday, May 28". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. May 28, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  4. "Karen C. Johnson, MD, MPH, Named Endowed Professor in Women's Health for the UTHSC College of Medicine". Memphis, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Health Science Center. November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  5. "Johns Hopkins University Commencement 1989". Mocavo. 1989. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  6. "Karen C. Johnson, MD, MPH '85 Awarded Professorship". Memphis, Tennessee: UTHSC Alumni Office. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  7. Wade, Don (November 6, 2014). "UTHSC Doctor Receives Endowed Professorship". Memphis Daily News. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  8. Brown, George (April 25, 2014). "Diet Soda Concerns For Women". Memphis, Tennessee: WREG-TV. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  9. Cushman, W. C.; Whelton, P. K.; Fine, L. J.; Wright Jr, J. T.; Reboussin, D. M.; Johnson, K. C.; Oparil, S.; For the SPRINT Study Research Group (November 2015). "SPRINT Trial Results: Latest News in Hypertension Management". Hypertension. 67 (2): 263–265. doi:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.115.06722. PMC 4768735. PMID 26553234. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  10. Robertson, Rob (February 19, 2014). "UTHSC prof awarded $1.6 million to continue diabetes study". Memphis Business Journal. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  11. Frederick L Brancati; Mary Evans; Curt D Furberg; Nancy Geller; Steven Haffner; Steven E Kahn; Peter G Kaufmann; Cora E Lewis; David M Nathan; Bertram Pitt; Monika M Safford (February 2012). "Midcourse correction to a clinical trial when the event rate is underestimated: the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Study". Clinical Trials. 9 (1): 113–124. doi:10.1177/1740774511432726. PMC 3790961. PMID 22334468.
  12. McCoy, Erin L. (July 2013). "Smoke Signals". Memphis Magazine. p. 2. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  13. Anastassios G. Pittas; Bess Dawson-Hughes; Patricia R. Sheehan; Clifford J. Rosen; James H. Ware; William C. Knowler; Myrlene A. Staten; Russell Tracy; Michael R. Lewis; Lawrence Phillips; John Foreyt; Ranee Chatterjee; Richard Pratley; Chhavi Chadha; David Robbins; Anne Peters; Irwin Brodsky; Vanita Aroda; Cyrus Desouza; Leonid Poretsky; and 12 others (December 1, 2014). "Rationale and design of the vitamin D and type 2 diabetes (D2d) study: A diabetes prevention trial". Diabetes Care. 37 (12): 3227–3234. doi:10.2337/dc14-1005. PMC 4237973. PMID 25205139. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  14. Wade, Don (August 4, 2014). "UTHSC Appoints Chair for Preventive Medicine". Memphis Daily News. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  15. "Cohen Congratulates UTHSC Researchers on Being Named Among "World's Most Influential Scientific Minds". Congressman Steve Cohen. August 18, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
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