Dr. Victoria E. Johnson

It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of Dr. Victoria E. Johnson, MBChB, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Johnson passed away on September 4, 2025, having only just turned 44. She was an internationally recognized neuroscientist, a beloved aunt, sister, daughter, friend and colleague, a Scotswoman and a Philadelphian. Born and raised in Scotland, Dr. Johnson, whom we all knew as Vicky (never one to tout her many titles or accomplishments), earned both her medical degree and PhD from the University of Glasgow, fostering the partnership between her two home institutions of Glasgow and Penn and her two true homes of Scotland and Philadelphia. Vicky joined Penn following medical school, moving to Philadelphia in 2005 where she has lived and worked ever since. She pursued postdoctoral studies in the Penn Department of Neurosurgery and the Center for Brain Injury and Repair and was a two-time winner of the Murray Goldstein Award for Excellence in Neurotrauma Research. She joined the Penn faculty in 2016 as an Assistant Professor, quickly establishing herself as a leader in the field, securing continuous funding from the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health. Her pioneering research significantly advanced understanding of the mechanisms by which acute brain trauma leads to long-term neurological decline. While Vicky traveled the world extensively, she loved Philadelphia and made it her equal, not second, home to her native Kilsyth, Scotland. She was proud to have become a citizen of the US in 2022 and displayed her "I Voted" stickers from each election thereafter on the wall in her office, while her diplomas and accolades sat framed and stacked, unhung on the floor. Unknown to many, Vicky movingly overcame breast cancer at age 40 and had no evidence of disease when less than four years later she received the devastating diagnoses of metastatic colon cancer that would take her life. In her too short time and despite the challenges of her breast cancer in 2021 and her later colon cancer, Vicky remained remarkably productive. In 2024, she published a landmark paper in Brain on TBI in contact sports and was awarded a major new NIH grant. In 2025, she achieved tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Neurosurgery, which in the prior year, ranked 3rd in the nation in NIH funding research among departments of neurosurgery, thanks in part to grants awarded to Vicky who was a top-funded neurosurgery researcher. Dr. Daniel Yoshor, Chair of Neurosurgery, and Dr. Douglas Smith, Director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair and her long-time mentor, PI and collaborator, described her as a cherished member of the Penn research community whose legacy will live on through the colleagues and trainees she inspired and the transformative research she led. Vicky succumbed to colon cancer much quicker than we had all hoped and predicted despite the excellent efforts of her care team, to whom she was deeply grateful, and her own valiant, steadfast struggle for more time. She faced the disease head on and managed her care with laser focus on ensuring she left no one with the burden of her absence, that she did everything she could, for everyone else and for science, right to the end. She had wanted to celebrate her tenure at a villa in Europe with an open house invitation. She talked about a dinner table filled with family, friends and the unparalleled meals she was known for procuring, whether through reservations at the best places in the world or her own outstanding cooking. We picture her there, inviting us in, sharing a glass of wine, becoming just shy of uncomfortably full as we soak up every flavor and the warmth of her company. We will miss her so very much. She is survived by the three children she loved most, nephew and niece Patrick and Charlotte Johnson in Scotland and dear friend Orli Smith in Philadelphia, brother Scott Johnson and sister-in-law Victoria Carson, parents Frederick and Eleanor Johnson, her cherished friends and colleagues, and her loyal canine companion, Count, who laid at her feet to the end. Memorial services are currently being planned, and details will be shared with family and friends. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to the KeystoneCare's Keystone House in Wyndmoor that provided excellent, affirming end of life care.