SUMMARY
Bruce D. Johnson, Ph.D., is an expert in cardiovascular medicine and physiology whose research focuses on primary areas of clinical, environmental and human performance physiology.
Dr. Johnson's work has a strong emphasis on the limits of human performance and adaptation in unique populations, which reflects a growing interest in adaptive versus maladaptive responses to various conditions in a person's environment.
Dr. Johnson also is the principal investigator of the Human Integrative and Environmental Physiology Laboratory. He and his team in the lab work with clinical syndromes such as chronic heart and lung disease to study interactions between the respiratory and cardiovascular systems and the respiratory and cerebral vascular systems.
Dr. Johnson also researches and evaluates new methods for examining lung and cardiac physiology. His lab partners with industry and startup companies that focus on new technologies to monitor human physiology or to pharmacologically understand human disease, adaptation and performance. After conducting numerous field studies in austere environments, Dr. Johnson and his team have developed a strong expertise in setting up mobile laboratories.
Dr. Johnson's research receives funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and industry and foundation grants.
Focus areas
- Human adaptation and performance in extreme environments.
- Pulmonary manifestations of heart failure.
- The influence of inhaled air on human health and performance.
- Pulmonary vascular physiology, lung fluid balance and breath biomarkers in health and disease.
- Optimizing recovery after acute exercise and exercise training.
- Unexplained physiological events and monitoring pilot and aviator health during flight.
- Developing a breath tracking system to predict decompensation in heart failure and lung disease.
- Novel methods to optimize cerebral blood flow in health and disease.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Johnson studies how the heart and lungs work together in different situations, especially in extreme conditions. He wants to use what he learns to help people with heart and lung conditions have better treatment options and live healthier lives. He also works on ways to prevent these conditions by creating better exercise plans and new tools to find health issues early.