Dr. Kory Johnson has nearly 30 years’ work experience in biotech and government. He holds a B.S. in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics from University of Maryland (1995), a M.S. in Bioinformatics from Johns Hopkins University (2003), and a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology from George Mason University (2009). His doctoral thesis work focused on modeling genomic profiles collected from blood for Stroke diagnosis while his elective work focused on identifying the molecular effects of Anthrax on Lung, Liver, and Kidney.
Since 2006, Dr. Johnson has worked at NINDS performing bioinformatics-related analysis support and training to all PI's and staff as needed. Types of analyses have included, but are not limited to: RNA-Seq, scRNA-Seq, TCR-Seq, ChIP-Seq, WGS, WXS, Targeted Re-Sequencing, Microarray analysis (DNA, RNA, Methylation), Q-RT-PCR analysis, Serology analysis, RNA Structure analysis and Target Prediction, Protein Structure analysis, ad-hoc sequence analysis, phylogenetics, and ad-hoc statistical analysis.
In 2022, the Bioinformatics Core at NINDS was formalized with Dr. Johnson named Director. In this role, Dr. Johnson oversees both boinformatics scientist staff and bioinformatics application developer staff. Duties and responsibilities in this capacity, include, but are not limited to: assignment of work, scheduling of work, review of work, quality assurance, representing the Core in meetings and discussions, and formal presentation and reporting to the Core committee (as needed).
Former positions held by Dr. Johnson, include those at the National Cancer Institute (1994-1995), Human Genome Sciences Inc. (1995-1996), and Gene Logic, Inc. (1996-2006). Notable accomplishments to date include the co-founding of Gene Logic, the co-pioneering of predictive toxicogenomics, and the co-development of the NIH Stem Cell Data Management System. As evidence of these accomplishments and evidence of his experience, Dr. Johnson has 5 patents in the field of predictive toxicogenomics, 1 patent in the field of stroke diagnosis, and multiple manuscripts published in more than 50 different Journals.
In recognition of his accomplishments and experience, Dr. Johnson has received the NINDS Distinguished Performance Achievement Award seven times (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021) and the NINDS Merit Award for Excellence three times (2008, 2012, 2015). Part-time, Dr. Johnson teaches graduate-level Bioinformatics as an Adjunct Professor for the University of Maryland (2009-Present) and as needed for Johns Hopkins Univeristy and the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) at NIH. In recognisiton of his abilities as an educator, Dr. Johnson was nominated for the the Stanley J. Drazek Award for Teaching Excellence twice (2011 and 2012).
Bioinformatics Core Facility Background
The Bioinformatics Core Facility consists of both Bioinformatics Scientist-staff and Bioinformatics Programmer-staff. Its mission is to collaboratively assist NINDS research staff with Bioinformatics-related projects as needed.
| Core Team | |
|---|---|
Bioinformatics Scientists: Kory R. Johnson, Ph.D. (Director) Yong Zhang, Ph.D Rose Peterson, Ph.D | Bioinformatic Application Developers: Dong Park Srujan Ganta |
Core Contact Information
If anyone in the NINDS community needs Bioinformatics-related assistance, please contact our team, we look forwarding to supporting NINDS researchers:
- Bioinformatics Core Committee Chair: Edward Giniger, Ph.D
- Bioinformatics Core Director Contact: Kory R. Johnson, Ph.D
Scope of the Facility
Examples of Bioinformatics-related projects where the Core’s scientific staff can provide assistance:
- Experiment design
- Microarray Analysis (one-color, two-color)
- Next Generation Sequence Analysis (e.g., bulk RNA-Seq, ChIP-Seq, DNA-Seq, scRNA-Seq, TCR-Seq)
- Protein Analysis (structure prediction, mass spectrometry-based analysis)
- RNA Analysis (structure prediction, function classification, target prediction)
- Sequence Analysis (e.g., pair-wise, multiple-alignment, phylogenetics, gene prediction, comparative genomics)
- Ad-hoc Statistical Analysis (Descriptive, Correlation-based, Comparison Testing, Classification Modeling)
Examples of Bioinformatics-related projects where the Core's programming staff can provide assistance:
- Application design, development, & maintenance
- Database design, development, & maintenance
- Dashboard design, development, & maintenance
- Systems design, development, & maintenance
In addition to providing both Bioinformatics Scientist and Bioinformatics Programmer assistance to NINDS research staff, the Core staff also serves as mentors in the NIH Summer Internship Program each year.