Rate My Professor Erik Johnson

Erik C. Johnson serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology at Wake Forest University. He earned a B.A. from the University of Maine in 1992 and a Ph.D. from the University of Maine in 2000. Johnson joined the Wake Forest University faculty in 2004 and assumed the role of department chair in July 2022. His research centers on the neural control of physiology and behavior, employing Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. Key areas of investigation include molecular mechanisms of biological oscillators, neuropeptide signaling, metabolic regulation, nutrient sensing, stress responses, and circadian rhythms. Johnson contributes to the Center for Molecular Signaling and participates in the Neuroscience PhD Graduate Program at Wake Forest.

Johnson has published extensively in leading journals, with over 2,500 citations reflecting his influence in neuroendocrinology and insect physiology. Selected publications include "PDF receptor signaling in Drosophila contributes to both circadian and geotactic behaviors" (Neuron, 2005), "Identification of a circadian output circuit for rest:activity rhythms in Drosophila" (Cell, 2014), "A novel diuretic hormone receptor in Drosophila: evidence for conservation of CGRP signaling" (Journal of Experimental Biology, 2005), "Modulation of Metabolic Hormone Signaling via a Circadian Hormone and Biogenic Amine in Drosophila melanogaster" (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2022), "The Intrinsic Nutrient Sensing Adipokinetic Hormone Producing Cells Function in Modulation of Metabolism, Activity, and Stress" (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2021), and "Regulation of Metabolism by an Ensemble of Different Ion Channel Types: Excitation-Secretion Coupling Mechanisms of Adipokinetic Hormone Producing Cells in Drosophila" (Frontiers in Physiology, 2020). Additional works cover topics such as GPCR dimerization, TRPA1 channel functions, sex steroid regulation of leptin, eclosion hormone action, and carbon dioxide detection in earthworms. He has co-authored book chapters on insect stress responses and heart development. Johnson serves as a Topical Advisory Panel member and Special Issue Editor for International Journal of Molecular Sciences.