Tim Johnson, PhD

The Johnson Lab includes experts in poultry microbiology, bacterial pathogen ecology, and bacterial genomics. Research in the Johnson Lab has the primary goal of protecting poultry health and sustaining our healthy food supply. To that end, we strive to enhance poultry health through a better understanding of the microbiota of the bird, the biology of antimicrobial resistance, the efficacy of antimicrobial alternatives, and pathogen ecology. We also strive to understand the ecology and evolution of foodborne pathogens, primarily Salmonella, towards mitigating them on farm and preventing human illnesses.

Microbiome and Antibiotic Resistance cluster

• New investigator award, Plasmid Biology Society
• Young Investigator Award, American Association for Avian Pathologists

My research and outreach programs are currently focused on the following:

• Understand the ecology and evolution of poultry bacterial pathogens, including avian pathogenic E. coli and Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT).
• Identify alternatives to antibiotics that can be used to Identify and refine poultry-adapted probiotics (Lactobacillus spp.) that can be used to enhance performance and reduce disease in agricultural animals.
• Understand the microbial communities (microbiome) of poultry, and develop microbiome-based solutions for enhancing bird performance.
• Develop tools that enable poultry producers to rapidly identify emergent Salmonella strains that present an enhanced risk to cause human illness.

Dr. Johnson, Google Scholar

• POUL 5101 Living in a microbial world and raising animals: the poultry perspective
• POUL 5102 Living in a microbial world and raising animals: the poultry perspective
• GCC 3016 Antibiotic resistance - How can we avoid the apocalypse?
• VMED 5420 Molecular epidemiology of infectious disease