Nikki Johnston, PhD

Associate Professor, Otolaryngology & Communication Sciences and Microbiology & Immunology

Locations

Otolaryngology & Communication Sciences

Contact Information

Education

PhD, Molecular and Cellular Pathology, University of Dundee, United Kingdom, 2002
BS, Anatomical Sciences, University of Dundee, United Kingdom, 1999

Biography

Honors and Awards

Broyles-Maloney Award American Broncho-Esophagological Association Orlando, Florida - April 2013
Charles Ferguson Clinical Research Prize, American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology - March 2013
2012 Faculty Service Award for service to the Faculty Council Committees of the MCW - October 2012
Marquis Who’s Who in America 2013 - January 2012
Marquis Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare 2012 - June 2011
American Cancer Society / MCW Cancer Center Travel Award, to attend and present at the annual AACR conference, Orlando, Florida - March 2011
Broyles-Maloney Award, American Broncho-Esophagological Association, Phoenix, Arizona - May 2009
Broyles-Maloney Award, American Broncho-Esophagological Association, Orlando, Florida - May 2008
Best Abstract and Travel Award, The Union of European Gastroenterology Week, Copenhagen, Denmark - July 2005
Key Note Presentation, World Organization for Specialized Studies on Disease of the Esophagus, Paris, France - September 2003
Best Abstract and Travel Award, The Union of European Gastroenterology Week, Geneva, Switzerland - October 2002

Research Interests

Nikki Johnston Lab

Research Focus

Extraesophageal reflux
Use of pepsin as a marker for extraesophageal reflux
Uptake of pepsin by laryngeal epithelial cells & its role in reflux - attributed laryngeal injury & disease
Isolate and identification of the receptor with which pepsin interacts on laryngeal epithelial cells
New therapeutics for reflux (pepsin inhibitors/receptor antagonists)
Role of reflux, specifically pepsin, in laryngopharyngeal cancers
Role of pepsin in Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma

Dr. Johnston’s research laboratory aims to test pepsin, as a marker for reflux, in clinical tissue and secretion samples from patients with diseases of the upper airway, demonstrate the effect of nonacid pepsin on respiratory epithelium using in vitro and in vivo models, and identify the molecular signaling pathways through which nonacid pepsin elicits cell damage. She has been investigating the role of reflux, specifically pepsin, in injury and disease of the aero-digestive tract for several years now. Dr. Johnston has presented this work at national and international scientific and clinical meetings and directed two international conferences on extra-esophageal reflux disease, the future: diagnosis and treatment. She has published the data in several peer reviewed journals, contributed chapters for reflux-related books, and edited a book on this subject.

In addition to investigating the role of pepsin as a diagnostic marker for reflux and its role in the pathophysiology of reflux-attributed inflammatory disease, her group has highlighted a potential role for pepsin in carcinogenesis of the laryngopharynx. Her research team is currently performing experiments to elucidate pepsin as a promoter/causal agent involved in early events of carcinoma in the laryngopharynx, and to investigate the mechanism by which pepsin causes/contributes to inflammation and carcinogenesis in the laryngopharynx.

Society Memberships

American Association for Cancer Research
Society for Bimolecular Sciences
Association for Research in Otolaryngology
American Broncho-Esophagological Association
Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center
Clinical and Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin

The role of pepsin in epithelia-mesenchymal transition in idiopathic subglottic stenosis.

(McCann AJ, Samuels TL, Blumin JH, Johnston N.) Laryngoscope. 2020 Jan;130(1):154-158 PMID: 30776094 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85061936635 02/19/2019
Esophageal pepsin and proton pump synthesis in barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma.

(Samuels TL, Altman KW, Gould JC, Kindel T, Bosler M, MacKinnon A, Hagen CE, Johnston N.) Laryngoscope. 2019 Dec;129(12):2687-2695 PMID: 31046139 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85065403373 05/03/2019
Detection of Pepsin in Oral Secretions of Infants with and without Laryngomalacia.

(Klimara MJ, Samuels TL, Johnston N, Chun RH, McCormick ME.) Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2019 Oct 21:3489419884332 PMID: 31631681 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85074441413 10/22/2019
Pepsin Triggers Neutrophil Migration Across Acid Damaged Lung Epithelium.

(Hurley BP, Jugo RH, Snow RF, Samuels TL, Yonker LM, Mou H, Johnston N, Rosen R.) Sci Rep. 2019 Sep 24;9(1):13778 PMID: 31551494 PMCID: PMC6760148 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85072622956 09/26/2019
Detection of pepsin and IL-8 in saliva of adult asthmatic patients.

(Marshall S, McCann AJ, Samuels TL, Blair A, Bonne V, Johnston N, Koufman J.) J Asthma Allergy. 2019;12:155-161 PMID: 31213853 PMCID: PMC6549784 06/20/2019
Pepsin: biomarker, mediator, and therapeutic target for reflux and aspiration.

(Johnston N, Dettmar PW, Ondrey FG, Nanchal R, Lee SH, Bock JM.) Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2018 12;1434(1):282-289 PMID: 29774546 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85047661971 05/19/2018
Pepsin as a biomarker for laryngopharyngeal reflux in children with laryngomalacia.

(Luebke K, Samuels TL, Chelius TH, Sulman CG, McCormick ME, Kerschner JE, Johnston N, Chun RH.) Laryngoscope. 2017 10;127(10):2413-2417 PMID: 28224634 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85013435856 02/23/2017
Association of Gel-Forming Mucins and Aquaporin Gene Expression With Hearing Loss, Effusion Viscosity, and Inflammation in Otitis Media With Effusion.

(Samuels TL, Yan JC, Khampang P, Dettmar PW, MacKinnon A, Hong W, Johnston N, Papsin BC, Chun RH, McCormick ME, Kerschner JE.) JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2017 08 01;143(8):810-817 PMID: 28594978 PMCID: PMC5710562 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85027729929 06/09/2017
Panel 8: Report on Recent Advances in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry.

(Preciado D, Granath A, Lin J, Val S, Kurabi A, Johnston N, Vijayasekaran S, Valdez T, Depireux D, Hermansson A.) Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2017 04;156(4_suppl):S106-S113 PMID: 28372528 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85018984822 04/05/2017
Airway reflux.

(Johnston N, Ondrey F, Rosen R, Hurley BP, Gould J, Allen J, DelGaudio J, Altman KW.) Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2016 10;1381(1):5-13 PMID: 27310222 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-84977120378 10/28/2016
Correlation of salivary and nasal lavage pepsin with MII-pH testing.

(Klimara MJ, Johnston N, Samuels TL, Visotcky AM, Poetker DM, Loehrl TA, Blumin JH, Bock JM.) Laryngoscope. 2019 Jul 22 PMID: 31329290 07/23/2019
Incidence and risk of aspiration in mechanically ventilated patients

(Klimara MJ, Nanchal R, Johnston N.) Reflux Aspiration and Lung Disease. 1 January 2018:235-244 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85064371769 01/01/2018

Nikki Johnston, PhD