Chair and Endowed Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Karen C. Johnson, MD, MPH is Chair and Endowed Professor of Women’s Health in the Department of Preventive Medicine at University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). Dr. Johnson is board certified in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine. She received her MPH degree from Johns Hopkins University where she completed a fellowship in Clinical Preventive Medicine. Dr. Johnson has extensive experience in working in the area of clinical research, especially with multicenter trials and cohort studies. She is the Principal Investigator for the SPRINT multicenter study which evaluated lower blood pressure and risk of heart and kidney diseases, stroke, and cognition. She is also PI for the Memphis site of the NIH funded Women's Health Initiative study in which, under her leadership, the study was able to successfully recruit over 4,200 women locally. Dr. Johnson is also the PI the Look AHEAD clinical trial studying weight loss in persons with diabetes. Dr. Johnson is the PI of the D2d Study which studied the prevention of type II diabetes with Vitamin D. She is a co-investigator for Fit Blue, a study translating the Look AHEAD weight loss intervention for use in the Air Force. Dr. Johnson is also the Vice Chair of the national Steering Committee for the SPRINT trial. She has worked extensively in assessment, treatment, and prevention of chronic diseases and behavior change over the past 30 years.