Dr. Johnson's clinical interest is the treatment of patients with advanced heart failure, including those who are either candidates for or recipients of a heart transplant or mechanical circulatory device.   Her research interests include studies of the molecular and cellular changes that characterize heart failure and organ transplantation, specifically through the use of gene microarrays as a  discovery platform.  Human blood and heart tissue samples are the basis for current studies identifying changes in a circulating peptide called apelin in heart failure, and in identifying changes in heart muscle associated with early heart failure progression.

Honors, Awards, and Organizations

• International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation
• Heart Failure Society of America, National Program Committee
• VA National Organ Transplant Referral Board (Thoracic

Recent Publications

1. Deng, M., Eisen, H.F., Mehra, M.R., Billingham, M., Marboe, C.C., Berry, G., Kobashigawa, J., Johnson, F.L., Starling, R.C., Murali, S., Pauly, D., Baron, H., Wohlgemuth, J.G., Woodward, R.N., Klingler, T., Walther, D., Lal, P.G., Rosenberg, S., Hunt, S.. for the CARGO Investigators. Non-invasive detection of rejection in cardiac allograft recipients using gene expression profiling. Amer J Transplant 2006;6:150.
2. Ihnken, K., Fann, J.I., Burdon, T.A., Johnson, F.L., Kosek, J.C., Shumway, N.E.: Chronic mitral valve rejection requiring replacement in a nine-year-old allograft. Annals of Thoracic Surgery 2005, 80:1909-1911
3. Caffarelli, A.D., Fann, J.I., Salerno, C.T., Johnson, F.L., Jenkins, D.D., O'Bannon, L., and Burdon, T.A. Cardiac allograft aortic dissection: Successful repair using a composite valve graft and modified-cabrol coronary reconstruction. J Card Surg 2005;20:450-452.

Medical School:
University of Washington

Residency:
University of California,
San Francisco

Fellowship:
Stanford University