Michael Johnson Retires from UH After 18 Years of Teaching, Mentorship and Research

Jan. 10 — After nearly two decades teaching, mentoring graduate students and conducting health outcomes research, University of Houston College of Pharmacy Associate Professor Michael Johnson, Ph.D., retired Dec. 31 from the college.

During his tenure, Johnson also served as vice chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy from its creation in 2018 to 2022 and director of graduate studies from 2010 to 2014.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Texas Austin, Johnson graduated with his M.S. from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UT Health) in 1992, later returning to UTHealth to earn his Ph.D.

Johnson began his career as a computer specialist in the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence at the Houston Center for Quality of Care and Utilization Studies, where he was later promoted to senior scientist and associate director. Before joining UHCOP in 2006, Johnson also served as assistant professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine’s Section of Health Services Research.

Johnson has served as primary mentor to 12 doctoral students and 12 master’s students, as well as secondary mentor to over 40 other doctoral and master’s level students. He also served as coordinator and/or lecturer for several courses in the graduate and professional program curricula.

Prolific Scholar

As the sole biostatistician in the college, Johnson’s expertise was highly sought by colleagues and mentees on a variety of pharmaceutical health outcomes research projects within the fields ranging from oncology and cardiology to psychiatry and public health.

In his research pursuits, Johnson served as principal or co-investigator on dozens of research grants funded by such organizations as the National Institute of Health and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as well as several companies in the pharmaceutical industry. 

Johnson has authored or coauthored nearly 200 articles in such peer-reviewed journals as Pharmacotherapy, Cancer, the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, and Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy.

He also has authored or contributed to more than 150 abstracts presented at annual international or national meetings of ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research and the American Pharmacists Association as well as local events such as the Kelsey Research Foundation’s Health Services and Outcomes Research Conference, the Houston Medication Safety Symposium, and the Geriatric Medication Safety Symposium.

Award-winning Service

In 2007, he was appointed chair of the Task Force on Good Research Practices for Retrospective Database Studies as part of a collaboration between the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy and the National Pharmaceutical Council. The task force’s reports were published in ISPOR’s Value Health publication, and Johnson was honored for his leadership with the ISPOR Distinguished Service Award in 2009.

During his career, Johnson also was honored with multiple Department of Veterans Affairs Special Contribution awards for his work on various projects and programs and co-authored a Best Student Podium Presentation at the 16^th Annual ISPOR Meeting in 2011.  

During his time at UH, Johnson served on a variety of committees, councils and other administrative/advisory bodies at the college and university level, including UHCOP’s Faculty Advisory Council, UH’s Institutional Review Board, and UH’s Graduate and Professional Studies Council. He also served on multiple review panels for ISPOR, NIH, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the American Heart Association. In addition, he played an instrumental role in the development of the college’s Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy (now a Concentration under the Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. program).