The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Department of Public Health Sciences (DPHS) is excited to welcome Dr. Derek Johnson as an Assistant Professor in the Health Policy and Management specialization. 

Dr. Johnson is an infectious disease epidemiologist with over a decade of global public health experience across Uganda, Sudan, Malawi, Myanmar, India, Mexico, and Honduras. His research focuses on sexually transmitted infections, with a particular emphasis on antibiotic resistance. His current work examines the alarming rise of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea—an urgent and growing global health concern.

Dr. Johnson earned his PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and has since collaborated with international academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and public health agencies to strengthen infectious disease surveillance, outbreak response, and health systems in resource-limited settings. 

Looking ahead, Dr. Johnson hopes to foster interdisciplinary partnerships with DPHS. “I would love to foster more collaborations between DPHS and other non-profit organizations, corporate, and governmental actors,” he shared. “Every organization has their own unique strengths and weaknesses, and I think DPHS can benefit from a wide variety of actors with different skills and talents.”

“Dr. Johnson’s global experience and collaboration interests will be of great value to public health in our department, state, and beyond!” said Dr. Tetine Sentell, Chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences.