Dr. Sarah A. Johnson
Dr. Sarah A. Johnson, PhD, RDN is an Associate Professor, the Director of the Functional Foods & Human Health Laboratory, and the Director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University.
Dr. Johnson’s research program aims to integrate multiple disciplines including nutrition, food, agriculture, and biomedical sciences to perform translational research studies focused on critically examining the efficacy and mechanisms by which functional foods, namely berries, improve cardiovascular disease risk factors and modulate vascular function in high-risk aging populations. Current work focuses on determining the clinical efficacy of blueberries and aronia berries in attenuating age-related vascular dysfunction, and underlying mechanisms responsible for clinical efficacy and physiological effects in general. Her research is funded through federal and industry sources, and she publishes in high-quality nutrition, food, and physiology journals.
Dr. Johnson is an Associate Editor for the journals Nutrition Research and Nutrition and Healthy Aging, and is an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, Nutrients, and the Journal of Medicinal Food. She has received honors and awards such as the Emerging Leaders Network Award from the Institute of Food Technologists, the Abbott Nutrition Award in Women’s Health from the Academy, the Junior Faculty Author Award from the Research Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the Clinical Emerging Leader Award from the Medical Nutrition Council of the American Society for Nutrition. She is actively involved in the American Society for Nutrition, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the Institute of Food Technologists.
Dr. Johnson received a BS in Nutrition and Food Science/Dietetics from the University of Vermont, and an MS and PhD in Nutrition and Food Science from Florida State University, where she also completed a postdoctoral fellowship.