Dr. Johnson specializes in the design of epidemiologic studies that evaluate drug safety and describe the outcome of illness. Most of his research investigates patients with diabetes using population-based registries and insurance databases. He collaborates with investigators at the Center for Health Research at Kaiser Permanente Northwest.Dr. Johnson teaches a graduate course on pharmacoepidemiology and another on the principles of publishing clinical evidence. He began his career in epidemiology in 1991 at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where he evaluated blood product safety.He earned an MPH in Health Services Research at the University of Washington in 1994 with a concentration in outcomes research.He earned his PhD in epidemiology in 1999, also at the University of Washington. Prior to joining the Department of Pharmacy, Dr. Johnson worked as an epidemiologist for the firm Epidemiology Resources, Inc. (ERI) in Newton, Massachusetts. He is currently a member of the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA).