Current Lab Members
Principal Investigator
Timothy Johnson, PhD, Professor
I am a Professor at the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine. I have been a faculty member at UMN since 2007. Prior to joining the faculty at UMN, I was a PhD student at North Dakota State University and a postdoctoral fellow at Iowa State University. My efforts at UMN are split between research, teaching, and outreach. Our lab has published more than 140 peer-reviewed scientific articles spanning a range of topics that include avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC), Salmonella, Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT), poultry probiotics, the poultry microbiome, and plasmid-mediated antimicrobial resistance. I also serve as the Director of Research and Development at the Mid-Central Research and Outreach Center Laboratory in Willmar, Minnesota. Our family (wife, son, and daughter) lives in a small town in central Minnesota, where we enjoy time on the lakes, fishing, golfing, and watching the kids play their favorite sports.
Abby Johnson, PhD Student
Being broadly interested in infectious disease and alternatives to antibiotics, my current research revolves around on probiotic development. I am specifically focused manipulating the intestinal microbiome (community of bacteria naturally living in the intestines) to prevent infections. Presently I am working to develop probiotics that can be used in commercial turkeys as alternatives to antibiotics. My goal is to find bacteria naturally occurring in turkeys that can be supplemented to birds for use in both prevention/treatment of infectious disease as well as promoting gut health and bird growth.
Elizabeth Miller, PhD, Researcher
My background is primarily in animal behavior and microbial ecology, with a focus on understanding how host social behavior influences the structure and function of gut and vaginal microbial communities. My current research focuses on using comparative genomics to define the phylogenomic landscape of Salmonella serovars important in poultry production and human health. I’m also interested in understanding how human-derived sources of antimicrobial resistant bacteria disseminate into natural environments, and in turn, assessing the potential public health risks associated with possible spillback into humans. As the Johnson Lab’s bioinformatics manager, I also help students learn how to process and analyze their sequencing data.
Lab Alumni
Postdocs Undergraduate Researchers
Haejin Hwang, PhD Brittanie Winfield
Elicia Grace, PhD Grace Richmond
Michael Stone
PhD Students Liz Patton
Emily Smith, MPH, PhD Emily Clarke
Katherine Worsley-Tonks, PhD Veronica Hwang
Nusrat (Annie) Jahan, PhD Jennifer Scalze
Kevin Lang, PhD Gloria Sari
Jonathan (Brent) Clayton, PhD
CVM Summer Scholars
Researchers Julia Smachlo, DVM Student
Bonnie Weber, PhD Zach Bradley, DVM
Anisa Wakil
Jijo Thomas, MS High School Students
Greta Henry Sydney Dvorak
Jennifer Holmberg
Jessica Danziesen Visiting Researchers
Kyle Case Mariya Azam, Visiting PhD Student
Kristi Kobluk, DVM (University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan)
Katharine Llop, DVM Sofie Kromann, Visiting PhD Student (University of
Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark)
Elif Bozcal Dagdeviren, PhD, Visiting Faculty (Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey)