Christine Kreuder Johnson is an American epidemiologist and veterinary scientist who is Professor and Director of the EpiCenter for Disease Dynamics at the One Health Institute. She serves as Professor of Epidemiology and Ecosystem Health at the University of California, Davis. She was elected Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine in 2021.
Christine Kreuder Johnson | |
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Alma mater | Duke University University of Pennsylvania University of California, Davis |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | University of California, Davis |
Thesis | Evaluation of survey methods used to assess distribution and abundance and characterization of patterns of mortality in southern sea otters (2003) |
Early life and education
editJohnson was an undergraduate student at Duke University, where she studied zoology and political science.[1] She moved to the University of Pennsylvania for veterinary studies, where she earned a Veterinary Medicine Doctorate in 1994.[citation needed] She moved to the University of California, Davis, where she completed a Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine. She earned a doctorate on effective methods to assess patterns of mortality in southern sea otters.[2]
Research and career
editJohnson is the Director of the EpiCenter for Disease Dynamics at the One Health Institute. Her research looks to understand the impacts of environmental change on animal health. The findings of her research are used to inform public policy and better prepare for emerging threats. In particular, she is focused on identifying fault lines for disease emergence, spillover and spread.[3] She had looked to understand the impact of the climate crisis on disease and the land-to-sea movement of pathogens.[3] Johnson has continued to work on sea otters since her doctoral research, showing that long-term exposure to domoic acid can cause fatal heart disease.[4] Domoic acid is produced in algal blooms that occur in unusually warm waters and then accumulate in crabs and clams.[4]
Johnson's research has evaluated the way humans impact wildlife through habitat loss, hunting and trade-related activity.[5] She believed that there was spillover risk that viruses from animal species would be transmitted into humans.[5][6][7] Johnson showed that domesticated animals share the highest number of viruses with humans, and that species threatened by hunting and decreases in habitat quality host twice as many zoonotic viruses as those endangered for other reasons.[5]
Johnson was part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) PREDICT research programme.[5] The programme was shut down by the Trump administration in March 2020.[8] Johnson called for veterinary and agricultural researchers to be engaged in the fight against COVID-19.[9] In August 2020, with support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Johnson established the EpiCenter for Emerging Infectious Disease Intelligence (EEIDI).[3][10] The centre is focused on disease emergence in the Congo and Amazon Basin forest regions.[11][12]
Awards and honors
edit- 2008 Appointed to Council of the Wildlife Disease Association[13]
- 2012 University of California, Davis Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award[14]
- 2021 Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine[15]
Selected publications
edit- M.A. Miller; I.A. Gardner; C. Kreuder; et al. (July 1, 2002). "Coastal freshwater runoff is a risk factor for Toxoplasma gondii infection of southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis)". International Journal for Parasitology. 32 (8): 997–1006. doi:10.1016/S0020-7519(02)00069-3. ISSN 0020-7519. PMID 12076629. Wikidata Q43216100.
- P A Conrad; M A Miller; C Kreuder; et al. (October 1, 2005). "Transmission of Toxoplasma: clues from the study of sea otters as sentinels of Toxoplasma gondii flow into the marine environment". International Journal for Parasitology. 35 (11–12): 1155–1168. doi:10.1016/J.IJPARA.2005.07.002. ISSN 0020-7519. PMID 16157341. S2CID 6085011. Wikidata Q34450264.
- C Kreuder; M A Miller; D A Jessup; et al. (July 2003). "Patterns of mortality in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) from 1998-2001". Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 39 (3): 495–509. doi:10.7589/0090-3558-39.3.495. ISSN 0090-3558. PMID 14567210. Wikidata Q28211015.
References
edit- ^ Staff (October 19, 2021). "Christine Kreuder Johnson elected to National Academy of Medicine". Roseville Today. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ Kreuder Johnson, Christine (2003). Evaluation of survey methods used to assess distribution and abundance and characterization of patterns of mortality in southern sea otters. OCLC 1013893887.
- ^ a b c Cho, Eunah (January 16, 2019). "Christine Johnson, VMD, MPVM, PhD". School of Veterinary Medicine. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ a b Kerlin, Katherine E. (January 26, 2021). "Ocean Toxin a Heartbreaking Threat for Sea Otters". UC Davis. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Kerlin, Katherine E. (April 7, 2020). "The Link Between Virus Spillover, Wildlife Extinction and the Environment". UC Davis. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ Calma, Justine (April 10, 2020). "To prevent the next pandemic, scientists search for animal zero". The Verge. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ madeleine-cuff (April 7, 2020). "Destruction of wild habits is increasing risk of deadly pandemics, research says". inews.co.uk. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ Zachary Cohen (April 10, 2020). "Trump administration shuttered pandemic monitoring program, then scrambled to extend it". CNN. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ McKenna, Maryn. "Covid Spilled From Animals to Humans. Now It's Spilling Back". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ "NIH establishes Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases". National Institutes of Health (NIH). August 27, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ Young, Cristin (August 4, 2020). "EpiCenter for Emerging Infectious Disease Intelligence". School of Veterinary Medicine. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ Kerlin, Katherine E. (August 27, 2020). "Amazon and Congo Basin Focus of New Emerging Infectious Disease Research Center". UC Davis. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ "Wildlife Health from Land to Sea: Impacts of a Changing World" (PDF). Wildlife Disease Association. 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 17, 2015.
- ^ admin, Site Factory (May 9, 2014). "Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award". Awards and Honors - School of Veterinary Medicine. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ "National Academy of Medicine Elects 100 New Members". National Academy of Medicine. October 18, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2021.