Karl Johnson

Karl Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Leadership and Practice at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, contributing to Health Science through research and practice in local public health governance. He earned a PhD in Health Policy and Management, with a concentration in Decision Science and Outcomes Research, from UNC Chapel Hill in June 2023. His dissertation, titled "Public Health Governance to Advance Public Health 3.0—Interrogating the Strategies and Structures of Local Governmental Health Departments to Address the Social Determinants of Health in North Carolina and across the Country," assessed strengths and weaknesses of boards of health in North Carolina and how organizational structures influence board-health department relationships. Johnson also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with Honors in Humanistic Studies from Johns Hopkins University, awarded in May 2018. His research interests include substance use treatment and prevention, the intersection of public health and faith communities, the effect of social media on youth mental wellness and technology's broader role in public health, the loneliness epidemic, and public health governance, especially the work of governmental boards of health in North Carolina.

Professionally, Johnson serves as Behavioral Health Integration Specialist at Granville Vance Public Health since August 2023, where he coordinates mental health and substance abuse initiatives, including strategic use of opioid settlement funds, presentations on social media's negative effects on youth mental wellness, trauma-informed care training, and development of a Faith in Mental Health Certification program for rural churches. His prior roles include consultant for the North Carolina Association of Local Health Departments (June 2020–October 2022) and Community Based Workforce Alliance (June 2020–June 2022), research assistant at Harvard Medical School’s Health Equity Research Lab (June 2019–April 2022), research consultant for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Office of Rural Health (June 2021–April 2022), and research assistant at Better Veteran Health Communities (August–December 2022). Key publications comprise "Local Public Health Strategies for Addressing Social Determinants of Health—Analysis of Recent Community Health Improvement Plans" (2024, Journal of Public Health Management and Practice), "Investigating the Role of Local Board of Health Governance on Local Health Department Policymaking Behavior" (2024), "Assessing Local Public Health Governance in North Carolina Across Organizational and Governance Configurations" (2024, North Carolina Medical Journal), "Local Health Department Values and Organizational Authorities Guiding Cross-Sector Work During COVID-19" (2023, Health Promotion Practice), and "Organizational decision-making during COVID-19: A qualitative analysis of the organizational decision-making system in the United States during COVID-19" (2022, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management). Awards include the Francine and Harry Weinberger Award for Excellence (Spring 2023), Delta Omega Honor Society membership (Spring 2024), Adam Smith Fellowship (Fall 2021), Adam Smith Applied Fellowship (Fall 2022), and Junior Fellowship from the Institute for Humane Studies (Summer 2023).

Professional Email: karl.johnson@unc.edu