About

John Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at The Ohio State University. He holds a PhD from Howard University, earned in 2011. His areas of expertise include topological algebra, algebra in the Stone–Čech compactification, and Ramsey theory. His research focuses on these fields, contributing to the understanding of algebraic structures within topology and their applications to combinatorial problems. As a faculty member, he is involved in teaching and mentoring students, advancing mathematical research in his areas of specialization.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Obstetrics
• History
• Political science
• Internal medicine

Selected publications

• Modification of Closed-State Inactivation in Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Nav1.7 by Two Novel Arachnid Toxins

  Toxins · 2025-08-29

  articleOpen access1st author

  Venomous invertebrates have provided a large diversity of toxins that selectively and potently modulate ion channels that are indispensable tools for elucidating the structure and underlying mechanisms of these channels. Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSC) are responsible for the initiation and propagation of action potentials in excitable cells and represent an important target for a variety of diseases. The Nav1.7 isoform, located in the peripheral nervous system, is central to pain signaling and is under intense investigation as a target for the treatment of pain. Closed-state inactivation (CSI) has been implicated in various disease states, such as arrhythmias and neuropathic pain. The investigation of venom toxins and VGSC CSI is poorly understood. However, many scorpion and spider toxins bind to site 3, characterized by a delay in steady-state inactivation, and interact with domain IV of the channel alpha subunit. In this study, two novel toxins were isolated from the venoms of Heteroctenus junceus and Poecilotheria regalis that demonstrated similar activity to site 3 modulators. Both toxins were shown to inhibit CSI while enhancing the rate at which CSI can occur. Taken together, this study demonstrates the need for additional investigation in CSI as well as the ability for toxins to modulate this phenomenon.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Safety of Repurposing Daratumumab for Relapsed or Refractory Autoimmune-Antibody-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia

  Blood · 2024-11-05 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Background Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA) is a disorder in which red blood cells are destroyed by autoantibodies produced by B-cells and plasma cells. The goal of treatment is to maintain a Hemoglobin (Hgb) concentration ≥ 10 g/dL which involves high-dose steroids with a taper; however, steroids are frequently not curative as they do not eliminate the antibody-producing clone. The use of rituximab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (mAb), improved outcomes for AIHA, including response rates and cure rates. It is approved in the first-line setting and for relapsed/refractory AIHA. However, for patients who do not respond or relapse after rituximab, options are generally limited. One putative mechanism of resistance to rituximab is that the B-cell clone matures into a non-CD-20-expressing plasma cell. Using that hypothesis, we designed this study to test the safety and efficacy of daratumumab, an anti-CD38 mAb approved in several combinations for treatment of multiple myeloma as it eliminates CD38 expressing plasma cells. Study Design Main inclusion criteria were age ≥ 18, AIHA based on a Hgb < 10 g/dL and a positive direct antiglobulin test, and clinical signs of acute hemolysis including an elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and reticulocyte count (RC) or low haptoglobin. All patients had to have relapsed after prior treatment with steroids at ≥ 1mg/kg of prednisone (or equivalent) and rituximab ≥100mg. Patients also had to have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group function 0-2. Main exclusion criteria were uncontrolled medical disorders, lymphoid malignancies other than low grade lymphoproliferative disorders not requiring treatment, pregnancy, breastfeeding, COPD with FEV1 < 50%, renal or liver dysfunction, or prior anti-CD38 therapy. A baseline evaluation included a complete blood count (CBC), complete metabolic panel (CMP), LDH, DAT, haptoglobin, and RC. They received 6 weekly doses of subcutaneous (SC) daratumumab 1800mg and hyaluronidase PH20 2,000 U/ml. A CBC, CMP, LDH, and RC were checked weekly. Follow up with labs occurred every 8 weeks for 1 year. The primary objective was safety monitoring. Unacceptable toxicity necessitating withdrawal was defined as any grade ≥3 event based on CTCAE version 5. The secondary objective was treatment efficacy. A complete response (CR) was defined as a normalization in Hgb without evidence of hemolysis. A partial response was defined as an increase in Hgb > 10g/dL while allowing hemolysis with an elevated RC, bilirubin, and/or LDH. PR could include use of prednisone <10mg daily (or equivalent) to maintain Hgb > 10g/dL. Trough serum concentrations of daratumumab were measured prior to each treatment and post last dose using an ELISA assay. Results This study enrolled 2 patients. For our primary endpoint, there were no unexpected toxicities attributed to daratumumab. Patient 1 was a 57-year-old Caucasian female. Baseline Hgb and absolute RC were 9.3 g/dL and 0.28g/dL on the day of dose 1, respectively. At dose 2, her Hgb was 10.1 g/dL and her RC 0.24g/dL. By week 5, her Hgb and RCnormalized at 12.5 g/dL and 0.11, respectively and have remained in normal range at 9 months. Her bilirubin and LDH remained in normal range throughout the study. She remains in complete remission 10 months from first daratumumab dose. Patient 2 was a 45-year-old Caucasian female. Baseline Hgb and RC were 9.2 g/dL and 0.23g/dL on day 1, respectively. She displayed normalization of her RC by week 4 measured at 0.08. Her Hgb improved to 10.5 g/dL at week 3 and normalized at 11.8 g/dL at week 8. Total bilirubin and LDH remained in normal limits in this timeframe. At week 14, she displayed evidence of relapsed disease with a Hgb 6.4 g/dL, a RC 0.45, and LDH 785 units/L. At that time, she was diagnosed with a COVID infection and was removed from the study. Daratumumab trough concentrations increased steadily after the first dose in both patients, peaking after the sixth dose at 268.1 mcg/mL and 366.8 mcg/mL. Conclusions Due to the rarity of the disease, we were only able to recruit 2 patients to this single-institution trial, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions. However, we found it promising that treatment was well-tolerated without unexpected toxicities, and that both patients achieved CRs. We suggest further investigation into daratumumab for relapsed or refractory AIHA where other treatment options are limited.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nuevas formas de acero para vehículos más fuertes y livianos

  Knowable Magazine · 2024-09-05

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Los fabricantes de automóviles están modificando los procesos de producción para crear una serie de nuevos aceros con las propiedades adecuadas que les permitan fabricar automóviles que sean más seguros y eficientes en el consumo de combustible.

  PublisherDOI

• Minnesota Gopher Basketball

  2021-11-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  The men’s intercollegiate basketball program at the University of Minnesota has endured more than its share of legal problems. Two federal court cases from the 1970s document some of these difficulties and highlight the issue of how effectively the organizations that regulate collegiate athletic competitions afford due process of law to member universities and their student-athletes. The first case, Behagen v. Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, grew out of an attempt by the University of Minnesota to temper the conference-mandated punishment of two of its athletes for their participation in a fight in the closing seconds of a big game. The second, Regents of the University of Minnesota v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), resulted from the university’s challenge to NCAA sanctions against three of its players who were found to have received "extra benefits not made available to members of the student body in general".

  PublisherDOI

• When a Professional Sport Is Not a Business

  2021-11-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter offers a detailed analysis of legal cases, especially the landmark 1922 United States Supreme Court decision concerning the question of whether baseball is a game rather than a business. Justice Harry Blackmun’s paean to baseball in Flood v. Kuhn was written from the unabashed perspective of a dedicated fan. The larger issue in the Flood case was whether baseball was a business or a game. As a business it would be subject to federal antitrust legislation, but as a game it could continue to be controlled by the team owners. Baseball’s modern reserve clause provides that, before a certain date each year, a club will "designate a reserve list of active and eligible players which it desires to reserve for the ensuing year. That no player on the reserve list may thereafter be eligible to play for any other club until his contract has been assigned or until he has been released".

  PublisherDOI

• Zwicky: The Outcast Genius Who Unmasked the Universe

  2019-09-10 · 1 citations

  book1st authorCorresponding

  Fritz Zwicky was one of the most inventive and iconoclastic scientists of the twentieth century. Among other accomplishments, he was the first to infer the existence of dark matter. He also clashed with better-known peers and became a pariah in the scientific community. John Johnson, Jr.,'s biography brings this tempestuous maverick alive

  PublisherDOI

• The Letters of the Late William Cowper to His Friends

  Medical Entomology and Zoology · 2018-04-11

  bookOpen accessSenior author
  Publisher

• 1611: COMPARISON OF SODIUM ACETATE AND SODIUM BICARBONATE FOR METABOLIC ACIDOSIS IN THE CRITICALLY ILL

  Critical Care Medicine · 2018-12-18

  article

  Brown, Kyle1; Allen, Bryan2; Rottman, Kathleen2; Cannon, Chad2; Johnson, John2; Tucker, Calvin3 Author Information

  PublisherDOI

• Cave Rituals in South Central California: Ethnographic and Archaeological Interpretations

  The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology · 2018-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• Reinvention: The Reimagined and Continued Evolution of a Housing Program

  Digital Commons - Gardner-Webb University (Gardner–Webb University) · 2017-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  A successful housing and residence education program is a vital component of a university’s traditional undergraduate program. Such programs assist in the recruitment and retention of students as well as a serve as a significant source of revenue. Furthermore, such programs are conducive to the ongoing spiritual, academic, and social development of the students who reside in residential communities; however, for such programs to effectively accomplish their respective missions, they must focus on their core mission and goals, effectively manage their occupancy, effectively train their staff, effectively maintain their facilities, effectively market the experiences they offer, and effectively assess their students’ level of satisfaction with what is offered. The Housing and Residence Education Program of Gardner-Webb University is a housing program with a capacity of approximately 1,368 bed spaces, offering traditional residence hall, suite style, and apartment housing accommodations. From August 2013 through June 2017, the Gardner-Webb University Housing and Residence Education Program underwent significant changes in an effort to reinvent itself so it could better serve its students. Changes to the program during the referenced timeframe included but are not limited to the following: a better focus on mission, the implementation of a housing management software solution, more than $1,000,000.00 in facility updates, the implementation of a new student staff training curriculum, more comprehensive assessment efforts, and the creation and use of new marketing/promotional materials. The purpose of these changes was to assist the program in becoming a more effective program to better assist in the recruitment and retention of students.

  PublisherOA PDF

Recent grants

• Permeation, Block, and Gating of NMDA Receptors

  NIH · $5.5M · 1990–2018

• NIH Grant R29MH045817

  NIH · $467k · 1996

• NIH Grant K02MH000944

  NIH · $751k · 2004

• NIH Grant F32MH009313

  NIH · $56k

Frequent coauthors

• Rabi Sulayman

  Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

  289 shared

• Abhishek Purohit

  Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research

  289 shared

• Paul Dyken

  University of Mobile

  289 shared

• Manisha Rathi

  289 shared

• Sarah K. Martin

  Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust

  289 shared

• Jesús Frías

  Hospital Universitario La Paz

  289 shared

• Frederic Bruhn

  Fitzsimons Army Medical Center

  289 shared

• Abner H. Levkoff

  Medical University of South Carolina

  289 shared

Awards & honors

• Graduate Teaching Awards