Christine Kreuder Johnson, a professor with the University of California, Davis, One Health Institute in the School of Veterinary Medicine, is among the 100 newly elected members of the National Academy of Medicine as announced today.

Johnson is an expert in epidemiology and ecosystem health. She directs the EpiCenter for Disease Dynamics at UC Davis and was a lead on the USAID PREDICT project, which strengthened global capacity to detect emerging viruses and pandemic threats. 

She leads the EpiCenter for Emerging Infectious Disease Intelligence, one of NIAID’s Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Disease, which aims to better understand the environment and climate-related drivers for spillover at the forest-urban edge in Africa and Latin America.

At UC Davis, she teaches One Health and ecosystem health and fosters a training program in applied research in wildlife epidemiology and disease ecology.

Throughout these activities and others ranging from coastal pathogen pollution to lead toxicity in condors, Johnson’s research is committed to characterizing the impacts of environmental change on animal and human health, preparing for emerging threats, and guiding public policy at the intersection of emerging disease and environmental health.

Johnson studied zoology and political science at Duke University before earning a doctoral degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, and her master of preventive medicine and Ph.D. degrees at UC Davis. She joined the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s faculty in 2006 in the Department of Medicine and Epidemiology and as part of the One Health Institute leadership team. 

Johnson joins a select group of UC Davis honorees in the National Academy of Medicine. They are listed on the Academic Affairs website.

Alumnus Charles Rice also elected

Charles M. Rice '74, 2020 Nobel Prize winner, is also a newly elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. He currently heads the Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease at Rockefeller University. Rice helped identify the hepatitis C virus proteins required for viral replication, and he developed culture systems that enabled the discovery of direct-acting antiviral drugs that can cure infected patients who would otherwise risk premature death from liver failure and cancer.

The National Academy of Medicine is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The National Academies work outside of government to provide objective advice on matters of science, technology and health. The academy is the oldest scientific academy in the U.S., and membership is considered among the highest national honors for scientists.