Megan S. Johnson

Megan , a 2004 - 2008 Self Fellow, received a Ph.D. in anatomy and cell biology at the KU Medical Center in 2008. She received a B.A. (2002) in biology, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Truman State University with minors in English, Spanish, and psychology. Megan received an NCAA Division II Degree-Completion Award and was a five-time All-American in NCAA Division II track and field. Megan's graduate research focused on disorders of sensory nerves, specifically diabetic neuropathy. Her projects examined how diabetes affects different subpopulations of neurons innervating the skin. She used immunocytochemistry, confocal microscopy, and laser capture microdissection combined with RNA microarrays to examine the differential vulnerability of these subpopulations to diabetes, with the goal of identifying potential therapeutic targets. Megan is a member of the Society for Neuroscience and has presented at the SFN national meeting. Megan was awarded the Best Overall Graduate Student Presentation at the 2005 University of Kansas Medical Center Student Research Forum. Megan worked as a postdoctoral researcher at KU following graduation, and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Missouri - Columbia.

Mentor: Doug Wright, Professor, Anatomy and Cell Biology