
Nikki Johnston, PhD
Associate Professor, Otolaryngology & Communication Sciences and Microbiology & Immunology
Locations
- Otolaryngology & Communication Sciences
Contact Information
Education
BS, Anatomical Sciences, University of Dundee, United Kingdom, 1999
Honors and Awards
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
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
Publications
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(Espahbodi M, Samuels TL, McCormick C, Khampang P, Yan K, Marshall S, McCormick ME, Chun RH, Harvey SA, Friedland DR, Johnston N, Kerschner JE.) Laryngoscope. 2021 02;131(2):410-416 PMID: 32433794 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85085010563 05/21/2020
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H+/K+ATPase Expression in the Larynx of Laryngopharyngeal Reflux and Laryngeal Cancer Patients.
(McCormick CA, Samuels TL, Battle MA, Frolkis T, Blumin JH, Bock JM, Wells C, Yan K, Altman KW, Johnston N.) Laryngoscope. 2021 01;131(1):130-135 PMID: 32250454 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85083103241 04/07/2020
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RNA Sequencing Reveals Cancer-Associated Changes in Laryngeal Cells Exposed to Non-Acid Pepsin.
(Samuels TL, Zimmermann MT, Zeighami A, Demos W, Southwood JE, Blumin JH, Bock JM, Johnston N.) Laryngoscope. 2021 01;131(1):121-129 PMID: 32202667 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85082674385 03/24/2020
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(Samuels TL, Johnston N.) Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020 Dec;28(6):401-409 PMID: 33060393 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85094932824 10/17/2020
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Proximal reflux: biochemical mediators, markers, therapeutic targets, and clinical correlations.
(Klimara MJ, Randall DR, Allen J, Figueredo E, Johnston N.) Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2020 12;1481(1):127-138 PMID: 32401362 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85097874970 05/14/2020
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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. 2020 04;130(4):961-966 PMID: 31329290 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85069855612 07/23/2019
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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. 2020 Mar;129(3):224-229 PMID: 31631681 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85074441413 10/22/2019
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The role of pepsin in epithelia-mesenchymal transition in idiopathic subglottic stenosis.
(McCann AJ, Samuels TL, Blumin JH, Johnston N.) Laryngoscope. 2020 01;130(1):154-158 PMID: 30776094 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85061936635 02/19/2019
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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 12;129(12):2687-2695 PMID: 31046139 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85065403373 05/03/2019
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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 09 24;9(1):13778 PMID: 31551494 PMCID: PMC6760148 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85072622956 09/26/2019
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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
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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