Thomas Johnson III

THOMAS JOHNSON III, M.D., Ph.D., the inaugural recipient of the Allan and Shelley Holt Rising Professorship, is on a mission to turn findings in the lab into therapies that will dramatically improve the lives of patients. He leads a translational neuroscience laboratory that focuses on stem cell transplantation to regenerate damaged optic nerves. This work has the potential to someday restore vision damaged by conditions like eye stroke, an injury to the optic nerve caused by restricted blood flow in the eye, as well as by diseases like glaucoma, the world’s second leading cause of blindness. His lab is part of an effort dubbed the Audacious Goals Initiative for Regenerative Medicine by the National Eye Institute.