Mark Damone Johnson is a professor of neurological surgery and Senior Consulting Vice Provost for Mentorship, Leadership, and Transformation at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the UMass Memorial Medical Center. Previously, he was an associate professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School.
Johnson earned his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Amherst College, his MD from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and his Ph.D. in Neurobiology from Harvard University. He completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Washington, Atkinson Morely Hospital in the United Kingdom, and the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon.
Dr. Johnson specializes in adult brain tumors and hydrocephalus – a buildup of fluid in the brain. Like his dedication to his colleagues, his commitment to his patients has never wavered, despite the challenges of the pandemic. He has practiced at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, is a widely known expert in the treatment of brain tumors and is director of the adult hydrocephalus and neurosurgical pain management programs.
He received the Sontag Foundation’s Distinguished Scientist Award in 2004 and is one of two alumni who serve on the foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Johnson also serves as UMass Medical School’s advisory vice provost for mentoring, leadership, and transformation and directs UMass Medical School’s neurological surgery program. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Johnson directs a translational research laboratory focused on the genomics, cell biology, and treatment of adult hydrocephalus and brain tumors. Prior to coming to UMass, Dr. Johnson was an associate neurosurgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an associate professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School.
Since 2003, Johnson has published more than 20 peer-reviewed articles and reviews, raised more than $6 million in external research funding, and trained and mentored more than 15 neurosurgery residents and 23 postdoctoral fellows and students.