Dr. Johnson joined VAPHS’s Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center as a postdoctoral fellow in 2018. In 2020, he received a VA Career Development Award to begin his own line of research as a career VA research speech-language pathologist. Dr. Johnson’s research focuses on the neural bases of stroke-related language impairment and the mechanisms underlying language recovery and rehabilitation, as well as behavioral and neural predictors of recovery, and the development and evaluation of more effective and efficient interventions.

What are the 3 most important questions that define your research program?

1. How does language rehabilitation impact and/or alter brain function in individuals with chronic stroke-induced aphasia?
2. What are the neural and behavioral variables that most reliably predict outcomes from specific language interventions and language therapy in general in those with chronic aphasia?
3. How can novel and established language interventions be optimized to improve patient outcomes?

What are five key words that best describe your areas of interest?

1. Aphasia
2. Neuroimaging
3. Treatment
4. Outcome prediction
5. Language

Name various technologies, models, methods, analytical approaches or other forms of expertise that characterize your research program?

1. Functional and structural neuroimaging
2. Functional connectivity
3. Aphasia treatment studies