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Lance A. Johnson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, University of Kentucky

Dr. Lance Johnson is an Associate Professor of Physiology and a Faculty Affiliate at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina under Professors Nobuyo Maeda and Nobel Laureate Oliver Smithies, followed by postdoctoral training at Oregon Health & Science University. He joined the University of Kentucky in late 2016. Dr. Johnson’s research focuses on apolipoprotein E (APOE), the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, with an emphasis on the neuroprotective E2 allele and glial metabolism in neurodegeneration. His lab uses translational approaches across cells, animals, and humans to identify therapeutic strategies, and their work has been featured in Science magazine and other outlets. He has published over 65 papers, with manuscripts in Cell Metabolism, Science Advances, PNAS, and Nature Neuroscience, and currently leads multiple NIH and Alzheimer’s Association grants. Dr. Johnson also directs the Metabolomics Core for an NIH P20 grant and has supported dozens of investigators with metabolomics and lipidomics analyses. A dedicated mentor and educator, Dr. Johnson received the University of Kentucky Exceptional Mentor Award (2021) and Early Career Mentoring in Research Award (2024), and serves as Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Physiology.

To learn more, visit the Johnson Lab website and follow Dr. Johnson on social media.

 

Related Research:

Assessing the Role of APOE in Glial Lipid Droplet Metabolism and Function Lance Johnson 2025-12-08 Apolipoprotein E and Immunometabolism in Alzheimer’s Disease Lance Johnson Josh Morganti Ramon Sun 2022-02-14

Funded Research

These projects were made possible from Cure Alzheimer's Fund support.

Project Description Researchers Funding
Assessing the Role of APOE in Glial Lipid Droplet Metabolism and Function 2025

$78,090
Apolipoprotein E and Immunometabolism in Alzheimer’s Disease 2021

$172,500

Selected Publications

These published papers resulted from Cure Alzheimer’s Fund support.

Kloske, C. M., Belloy, M. E., Blue, E. E., Bowman, G. R., … Gate, D., … , Iadecola, C., Johnson, L. A., Kanekiyo, T., … Lamb, B.T., … Marcora, E., … Morganti, J. M., … Ramachandran, K. V., … Tsai, L. H., … Ulrich, J. D., van der Kant, R., … Wellington, C. L., … Zhao, N., Bu, G., Goate, A. M., Holtzman, D. M. Advancements in APOE and dementia research: Highlights from the 2023 AAIC Advancements: APOE conference, Alzheimer's & Dementia, July 19, 2024, Read More

Lee, S., Devanney, N. A., Golden, L. R., Smith, C. T., Schwartz, J. L., Walsh, A. E., Clarke, H. A., Goulding, D. S., Allenger, E. J., Morillo-Segovia, G., Friday, C. M., Gorman, A. A., Hawkinson, T. R., MacLean, S. M., Williams, H. C., Sun, R. C., Morganti, J. M., & Johnson, L. A. APOE modulates microglial immunometabolism in response to age, amyloid pathology, and inflammatory challenge, Cell Reports, March 3, 2023, Read More

Golden, L. R., & Johnson, L. A. Liver-ing in your head rent free: peripheral ApoE4 drives CNS pathology, Molecular Neurodegeneration, October 4, 2022, Read More

Yassine, H. N., Self, W., Kerman, B. E., Santoni, G., Navalpur Shanmugam, N., Abdullah, L., Golden, L. R., Fonteh, A. N., Harrington, M. G., Gräff, J., Gibson, G. E., Kalaria, R., Luchsinger, J. A., Feldman, H. H., Swerdlow, R. H., Johnson, L. A., Albensi, B. C., Zlokovic, B. V., Tanzi, R., Cunnane, S., … Bowman, G. L. Nutritional metabolism and cerebral bioenergetics in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, Alzheimer's & Dementia, December 8, 2022, Read More

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