Dr. Edward M. Johnson

1945 - 2021

Edward M. Johnson, Molecular Biologist Whose Discoveries Led to Major Advancements in the Treatment of a Wide Range of Diseases, Dies.

Dr. Edward M. Johnson died on March 22, 2021, in Norfolk, Virginia. He was 75. He is remembered by his family, friends, and colleagues for his care for others, his prodigious intellect, and an enthusiastic curiosity that led to a number of significant scientific advancements.

Perhaps most notable of these was his discovery of the Pur-alpha protein, which is present in every human tissue and is essential for brain development and learning. He identified its role in a variety of cancers, AIDS-related disease, and neurological diseases, including Pur-alpha Syndrome.

As a young Ph.D. student in the lab of Yale neuroscientist Paul Greengard, Dr. Johnson made foundational discoveries about the communication between nerve cells, helping to bring about a new understanding of protein factors that contribute to memory formation and numerous diseases including Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, depression, ADHD, and substance abuse. This work ultimately led to Dr. Greengard's Nobel Prize. Later on, in his own lab at Rockefeller University, he made a crucial finding in the study of telomeres, the tails of chromosomes, which paved the way to studies by Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, who would win the Nobel Prize for her subsequent research. While a professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Dr. Johnson made significant contributions to the field of medical research, where he played a critical role in defining the mechanisms by which asbestos causes cancer.

Neither of Dr. Johnson's parents went to college. Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1945 to Edward and Mary Johnson, Ed was called ""Rusty"" because of his reddish hair and to keep him sorted from his father, a second generation Swede of the same name. Ed shared a bedroom with his younger brother, Mark, who referred to Ed as his ""twin brother three years apart."" In 1959, after Ed Sr. lost his job at American Motors, he moved the family to Covina, Cal., and found a job organizing laboratories at The California Institute of Technology. Dr. Johnson's early exposure to his father's work encouraged his interest in the sciences. His parents, however, grew concerned with Ed's bookishness; they hid his books to encourage him to play outside.

In 1963, Dr. Johnson entered Pomona College as a National Merit Scholar on a full academic scholarship, majoring in Chemistry and Zoology. There he met and soon married his wife, Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, a leading expert in the field of Chinese Art History, who was seduced by ""Ed's ability to double-whistle and identify books by scent.""

Shortly after the birth of their son, Nathaniel, in 1980, Ed and Elizabeth bought into a small bungalow colony in the Catskills in upstate New York, where the family would spend their summers and where Dr. Johnson, an obsessive fly-fisherman, would troll the trout streams.

In 1985, after embarking on an independent career at Rockefeller, Dr. Johnson took a position as Professor of Pathology at Mount Sinai, where he was popular with his graduate students and helped launch the careers of many biologists. He was as beloved for his guidance of young scientists as he was for the brilliance of his work. In 2005, Dr. Johnson was named Chairman of Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology at Eastern Virginia Medical School, a position he would hold until his retirement. Dr. Johnson recruited young academics from institutions such as Harvard and Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and turned the department into a notable performing center for basic scientific research.

Dr. Johnson was driven by an insatiable curiosity for the world, a curiosity that extended across scientific disciplines and even beyond the scientific arena altogether. He was a hard-serving collegiate tennis player; a nationally ranked squash player; a fine jitterbugger; an inventive jewelry-maker and perfumer; a dedicated fisherman who traveled thousands of miles in pursuit of a challenge; a natty dresser with a taste for Hermes ties; and an excellent cook. Later in life he became so accomplished at Tai Chi that his martial arts teacher certified him as an instructor.

Dr. Johnson was predeceased by his brother, Mark, who died in 2018. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, son, Nathaniel, and daughter-in-law, Leah.