Jennifer E. Johnson, PhD

JenniferJohnson EHillDeLoney 1200x800

"The universe in me calls out to the universe in you - We are one," E. Hill DeLoney,
Flint Community Partner, pictured on the right. 

Chair, Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health
C.S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health
Professor of OBGYN
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine

Dr. Jennifer E. Johnson is the inaugural Chair of the Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health and the first C. S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health at Michigan State University. She is also the Chief Translation Officer in the Office of Health Sciences at Michigan State University and a professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, and professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at MSU.

Dr. Johnson is a licensed clinical psychologist who conducts policy-relevant mental health, suicide prevention, and maternal health care implementation and effectiveness research. Her work champions healthcare access and equity for individuals interacting with criminal-legal systems, pregnant and postpartum people, and people living in disinvested communities such as Flint, Michigan. She has been a principal investigator of 21 research studies funded by the National Institutes of Health, including the National Center for Health and Justice Integration for Suicide Prevention (NCHATS) and the Maternal Health Multilevel Interventions for Racial Equity (MIRACLE) Center of Research Excellence in Women’s Health. 

Johnson received her bachelor’s degree in applied physics and doctorate in clinical psychology from Brigham Young University. She then completed a T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Treatment Research at Brown University, where she was faculty until coming to Michigan State University in 2015. 

Dr. Johnson is committed to participatory research, leadership, and governance processes to promote equity, expand impact, empower the traditionally unempowered, and elevate their perspectives and contributions to solutions.

After spending more than a decade as faculty at Brown University, she came to MSU to help MSU build its new Division of Public Health in partnership with the Flint community. The result, the only academic unit in the country developed fully in partnership with those it seeks to serve, has been successful in terms of federal research dollars and sustained community change, providing proof of concept and support for the power of participatory processes. 

As the 2020-2021 Chair of the MSU Faculty Senate and University Steering Committee, Dr. Johnson represented more than 5,700 faculty and academic staff and helped to solidify participatory governance processes. She serves as a member of the MSU President’s Strategic Planning Steering Committee. She leads College-wide initiatives to create a trauma-informed climate for College faculty and staff, and help the College meet its mission to serve the vulnerable. Her research often uses community-participatory designs. She serves on local, state, and national Boards and policy committees. 

people at a dinning table

Johnson, J. E., Wiltsey-Stirman, S., Sikorskii, A., Miller, T., Poleshuck, E., Moore Simas, T. A., Carravallah, Miller, R., & Zlotnick, C. (2025). Outcomes of the ROSE Sustainment (ROSES) Study, a sequential multiple assignment randomized implementation trial to determine the minimum necessary intervention to sustain a postpartum depression prevention program in agencies serving low-income pregnant people. Implementation Science, 20, 9. 

Johnson, J. E., Clement, J., Sikorskii, A., Loree, A., Vander Meulen, M., Roman, L., Dearing, J. W., Bolder, H., McCoy White, J., Sokol, R., & Meghea, C. (2025). A cluster randomized stepped wedge implementation trial of scale-up approaches to ending pregnancy-related and -associated morbidity and mortality disparities in 12 Michigan counties: Rationale and study protocol. Implementation Science Communications, 6(1), 19.

Johnson, J. E., Ramezani, N., Viglione, J., Hailemariam, M., Taxman, F. S. (2024). Recommended mental health practices for individuals interacting with police, court, jail, probation, and parole in the U.S. Psychiatric Services, 75(3): 246-257.

Miller, T. R., Weinstock, L. M., Ahmedani, B. K., Carlson, N. N.., Sperber, K., Cook, B., Taxman, F. S., Arias, S. A., Kubiak, S., Dearing, J. W., Waehrer, G. M., Barrett, J. G., Hulsey, J., & Johnson, J. E. (2024). Share of U.S. adult suicides in 2019 preceded by recent jail release: Cohort estimates derived from meta-analytic data. JAMA Network Open. 7(5), e249965. 

Johnson, J. E., Loree, A. M., Sikorskii, A., Miller, T. R., Carravallah, L., Taylor, B., & Zlotnick, C. (2023). Study protocol for the ROSE Scale-Up Study: Informing a decision about ROSE as universal postpartum depression prevention. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 132, 107297. NIHMS1922709

Johnson, J. E., Price, A. B., Sikorskii, A., Kent, K., Taylor, B., Lamphere, S., Huff, C., Cinader, M., & Zlotnick, C. (2022). Protocol for the Healing After Loss (HeAL) Study: A randomized controlled trial of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for major depression following perinatal loss. BMJ Open, 12, e057757. open access, PMC9020310.

Johnson, J. E., Viglione, J., Ramezani, N., Cuellar, A. E., Hailemariam, M., Rosen, R., Breno, A., & Taxman, F. (2021). Protocol for a quasi-experimental, 950 county study examining implementation outcomes and mechanisms of Stepping Up, a national policy effort to improve mental health and substance use services for justice-involved individuals. Implementation Science, 16, 31.

Johnson, J. E., Stout, R. L., Miller, T., R., Zlotnick, C., Cerbo, L. A., Andrade, J. T., Nargiso, J., Bonner, J., Wiltsey-Stirman, S. (2019). Randomized cost-effectiveness trial of group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for prisoners with major depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 87(4), 392-406.

Scheduling: For inquiries, please contact Morgan Morgan, fleesmor@msu.edu, 810-600-9126.

Scholarly Interests

  • Mental health and substance use implementation science for vulnerable populations
  • Perinatal women and individuals involved in criminal or legal systems
  • Community-engaged and participatory approaches to research, leadership, and governance

Connect

  • x logo @JJohnsPhD
  • Email: Jjohns@msu.edu
  • Office Phone: 810-600-5669
  • Address:
    Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University
    200 East 1st Street, Room 366, Flint, MI 48502