Michael Johnson (scientist)
Michael Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Immunobiology and Science Communicator at the University of Arizona. He created the popular science blog Black Science Blog and the podcast Science Sound Bites.Early life and education
Johnson was born and raised on the south side of Chicago by a single parent. He earned a Bachelors in music at Duke University in 2004. He then studied Biochemistry and Biophysics at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For his graduate studies he looked at the ways bacteria move and attach to cause infection under the supervision of Matthew Redinbo.Research and career
In 2012 Johnson was awarded a research fellowship in infectious diseases at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He studies how bacteria respond to stress and the mechanisms used by the immune system to remove infection and metal export in streptococcus pneumoniae. In 2016 Johnson was appointed to the University of Arizona College of Medicine, where his lab research how bacteria maintain homeostasis in metal environments.
Black Science Blog was featured as a Scientific American "You Should Know" blog to follow. He created the podcast Science Sound Bites to help school teachers and students better understand scientists and their careers.
