Jeffrey Johnson
Credentials: Pharmacy Department
Position title: Signal transduction, neurotoxicity, and transcriptional control of neuroprotective genes
Email: jeffrey.johnson@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 262-2893
Address:
6125 Rennebohm Hall
777 Highland Ave
Madison, WI 53705
LAB WEBSITE:
https://apps.pharmacy.wisc.edu/sopdir/jeffrey_johnson/
FOCUS GROUP:
Transcriptional Mechanisms
RESEARCH DESCRIPTION:
The goals of my research are to determine the potential for Nrf2 to be a viable therapeutic target in the treatment of neurodegenerative disease. We have ongoing studies using mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease (HD), nerve degeneration/regeneration, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We use multiple transgenic mouse models of neurodegenerative as well as cell-specific transgenics overexpressing Nrf2 to study the effects of Nrf2 on neurodegeneration. In addition, we are actively attempting to identify novel Nrf2 activating molecules that cross the blood-brain-barrier and attenuate the development and/or progression of neurodegenerative disease. Identification of multiple new classes of molecules (either synthetic or natural products) that activate the Nrf2 pathway have the potential to impact a wide range of neurological diseases where the Nrf2 pathway has been implicated in slowing disease progression. These include not only AD, PD, ALS and HD but also multiple sclerosis, stroke, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain injury.