Donald J Johann Jr., MD

Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics Faculty Rank: Professor Campus: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College: College of Medicine Department: Biomedical Informatics

Cancer Research Interest

• Type of Research: Basic
• Research Interest Statement: As both a principle investigator and medical oncologist I'm dedicated to developing more effective therapies for patients with cancer. The characterization of genetic-based alterations in model systems and bio-liquids using advanced molecular profiling and high-throughput technologies are active and significant interests. Areas of emphasis include: cancer biology, bioinformatics (NGS, mass spec-based proteomics), & laser capture microdissection (LCM), and drug development utilizing model systems. Prior to medical school, I worked as an engineer for the Sperry/Unisys Corp for seven years. Rising thru the ranks, I directed a group of five engineers on R&D projects involving systems level software (OS, compilers), avionic software, and advanced instrumentation.

Contact Information

• Email Address: DJJOHANN@UAMS.EDU
• Profiles Research Networking Software: View Profile

Active Grants

• NIH/Office of the Director – 1S10OD036394
  “NovaSeq X Plus, Advanced Next Generation Sequencer”
  Principal Investigator
  6/15/2024 – 6/14/2025
• NIH/Nat. Cancer Institute – 1R21CA277412
  “Explore piRNAs as a novel group of biomarkers for ovarian cancer early detection”
  Co-Investigator
  5/1/2024 – 4/30/2026

Recent Publications

• Clarke CA, Lang K, Putcha G, [et al., including Johann DJ]. BLOODPAC: Collaborating to chart a path towards blood-based screening for early cancer detection. Clinical and translational science. 2023 16(1):5-9. PMID: 36251491. PMCID: PMC9841293.
• Johann DJ, Shin IJ, Roberge A, [et al.]. Effect of Antigen Retrieval on Genomic DNA From Immunodissected Samples. The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society. 2022 70(9):643-658. PMID: 36129255. PMCID: PMC9527476.
• Zhang Y, Blomquist TM, Kusko R, [et al., including Johann DJ Jr]. Deep oncopanel sequencing reveals within block position-dependent quality degradation in FFPE processed samples. Genome biology. 2022 23(1):141. PMID: 35768876. PMCID: PMC9241261.
• Gong B, Deveson IW, Mercer T, [et al., including Johann DJ Jr]. Ultra-deep sequencing data from a liquid biopsy proficiency study demonstrating analytic validity. Scientific data. 2022 9(1):170. PMID: 35418127. PMCID: PMC9008010.
• Johann DJ Jr, Laun S, Shin IJ, [et al.]. Microdissection Methods Utilizing Single-Cell Subtype Analysis and the Impact on Precision Medicine. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.). 2022 2394:93-107. PMID: 35094324.
• Ma L, Peterson EA, Shin IJ, [et al., including Johann DJ]. An advanced molecular medicine case report of a rare human tumor using genomics, pathomics, and radiomics. Frontiers in genetics. 2022 13:987175. PMID: 36846293. PMCID: PMC9951004.
• Clemens MM, Kennon-McGill S, Vazquez JH, [et al., including Johann DJ]. Exogenous phosphatidic acid reduces acetaminophen-induced liver injury in mice by activating hepatic interleukin-6 signaling through inter-organ crosstalk. Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B. 2021 11(12):3836-3846. PMID: 35024310. PMCID: PMC8727922.
• Li D, Kusko R, Ning B, [et al., including Johann DJ Jr]. FDA-led consortium studies advance quality control of targeted next generation sequencing assays for precision oncology. Precision cancer medicine. 2021 4. PMID: 35282311. PMCID: PMC8909622.
• Willey JC, Morrison TB, Austermiller B, [et al., including Johann DJ Jr]. Advancing NGS quality control to enable measurement of actionable mutations in circulating tumor DNA. Cell reports methods. 2021 1(7):100106. PMID: 35475002. PMCID: PMC9017191.
• Deveson IW, Gong B, Lai K, [et al., including Johann Jr D]. Evaluating the analytical validity of circulating tumor DNA sequencing assays for precision oncology. Nature biotechnology. 2021 39(9):1115-1128. PMID: 33846644. PMCID: PMC8434938.
• Jones W, Gong B, Novoradovskaya N, [et al., including Johann Jr D]. A verified genomic reference sample for assessing performance of cancer panels detecting small variants of low allele frequency. Genome biology. 2021 22(1):111. PMID: 33863366. PMCID: PMC8051128.
• Gong B, Li D, Kusko R, [et al., including Johann Jr D]. Cross-oncopanel study reveals high sensitivity and accuracy with overall analytical performance depending on genomic regions. Genome biology. 2021 22(1):109. PMID: 33863344. PMCID: PMC8051090.
• Ma L, Peterson EA, Shin IJ, [et al., including Johann DJ Jr]. NPARS-A Novel Approach to Address Accuracy and Reproducibility in Genomic Data Science. Frontiers in big data. 2021 4:725095. PMID: 34647017. PMCID: PMC8503682.
• Shibata T, Shah S, Evans T, [et al., including Johann D Jr]. Expansion of Human Papillomavirus-Specific T Cells in Periphery and Cervix in a Therapeutic Vaccine Recipient Whose Cervical High-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion Regressed. Frontiers in immunology. 2021 12:645299. PMID: 34659195. PMCID: PMC8515132.
• Godsey JH, Silvestro A, Barrett JC, [et al., including Johann Jr D]. Generic Protocols for the Analytical Validation of Next-Generation Sequencing-Based ctDNA Assays: A Joint Consensus Recommendation of the BloodPAC's Analytical Variables Working Group. Clinical chemistry. 2020 66(9):1156-1166. PMID: 32870995. PMCID: PMC7462123.
• Vara N, Liu Y, Yan Y, [et al., including Johann DJ]. Sustained fetal hematopoiesis causes juvenile death from leukemia: evidence from a dual-age-specific mouse model. Blood advances. 2020 4(15):3728-3740. PMID: 32777070. PMCID: PMC7422126.
• Febbo PG, Martin AM, Scher HI, [et al., including Johann DJ]. Minimal Technical Data Elements for Liquid Biopsy Data Submitted to Public Databases. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 2020 107(4).