Susan L. Johnson, PhD

Senior Associate Editor
Professor and Director, The Children's Eating Laboratory, University of Colorado Denver, Department of Pediatrics

Susan Johnson earned her bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her master's degree in Nutrition Science from The Pennsylvania State University and her doctorate in Nutrition Science from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has worked in a variety of settings including virology, pharmacology and molecular biology laboratories. In 1994, she became a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Denver. In 1996 she joined the faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at UC Denver and has continued there as faculty since that time.

Dr. Johnson's primary focus is research related to factors that influence the development of children's food intake and eating patterns. She directs the research group at The Children's Eating Laboratory, which investigates the effects of child-feeding practices on children's food preferences, energy intake patterns, obesity treatment interventions, and parenting related to media use. As a member of the Colorado Nutrition Network, she assisted in the development of innovative preschool nutrition education materials that are experiential and developmentally appropriate and continues to conduct interventions in child care and Heat Start settings. She also is a founding member of the About Feeding Children group—a multi-state consortium of nutrition, human development and child-care professionals who have focused on nutrition and physical activity issues in the child care setting. She has recently become active in the area of nutrition status of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Dr. Johnson has been awarded the UCHSC Graduate School Dean's Mentoring Award (2007), the Ruth Bowling Award for Excellence in Nutrition Education (2001) and the University of Idaho Margaret Richie Distinguished Speaker Award (2001). In 2004 she was elected to Who's Who in Medical Sciences Education.

In addition to being an Associate Editor for the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Dr. Johnson was a member of its Board of Editors and an ad hoc reviewer. In addition, she is currently an ad hoc reviewer for the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, The Journal of the American Medical Association, The Journal of Clinical Nutrition, The Journal of Pediatrics, Appetite, British Journal of Nutrition, Obesity Research, and Pediatrics.

Susan lives in Louisville, CO and enjoys music and dance and, of course, camping and hiking in the Rocky Mountains.