Eric Johnson to Serve as Chair at Center for Scientific Review

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Eric Johnson, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at RTI International, has been selected to serve as chair of the Behavioral Genetics and Epidemiology Study Section at the Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health.

The Behavioral Genetics and Epidemiology Study Section reviews research on the epidemiology and genetics of psychiatric disorders, alcohol and substance abuse and recovery, and other health behaviors. Chairs are selected based on their scientific achievements as demonstrated by the quality of research accomplishments, journal publications, and other scientific honors.

He will serve a two-year term. In that role, he and members of this study section will contribute to national biomedical research efforts and participate in assuring the quality of the NIH peer review process.

Johnson has more than 18 years of experience in epidemiologic and genetic study of substance use and mental health.

At RTI, he is the program director of behavioral health epidemiology and serves as principal and co-investigator on several genetic studies of substance abuse, mental illness, and HIV.

Prior to joining RTI in 2005, Johnson was an associate scientist at the Henry Ford Health Sciences Center and an associate professor of psychiatry at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.