Asal Mohamadi Johnson

Biography

Dr. Asal Mohamadi Johnson joined Stetson University in 2014 after teaching at Florida State University and Georgia Southern University. She has a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from Florida State University, a Master's degree in Urban Planning from the prestigious College of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran and a Master in Public Health from Jian Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University. She has experience creating and teaching a wide range of courses related to health and the build environment, religious and racial minorities, statistics, epidemiology and public health disparities. Some of her class topics include urban planning, sustainable development, Islam in multicultural cities, world cultures, healthy cities, global health, and epidemiology. Dr. Johnson values scholarship and believes effective teaching is enhanced through strong and consistent scientific inquiry. With an active and ambitious research agenda, she has published numerous articles in premier scientific journals regularly including students on research projects. She has mentored undergraduate research through the SURE grant program and senior thesis projects. Her ability to conduct rigorous scholarship is evidenced through her contributions as the lead scholar and author on several impactful studies. As an epidemiologist, Dr. Johnson is particularly interested in how the neighborhood environment impacts disease. Her research has been published in acclaimed journals such as the American Journal of Public Health; American Journal of Preventive Medicine; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Environment and Planning; and Urban Health. Her research investigating the impact of racial segregation on lung cancer survival and treatment was featured a s an American Association of Cancer Research press release and was reported on by more than 40 international, national and local media outlets including Reuters, the Washington Post, CNBC, Fox News and Daytona News Journal. Dr. Johnson is an active member of both the University and the community at large. With her unique background that connects neighborhood planning to public health, she has enthusiastically involved herself in undergraduate public health education at Stetson. As a founding faculty of the newly established public health major (starting in fall 2016) she has contributed to the design of the curriculum and completed an assessment of Public Health major. Dr. Johnson is actively involved in Spring Hill, a low-income community located in Deland. In addition to her sustained personal collaboration with the Spring Hill community, she has involved her students in a community health needs assessment that was conducted in collaboration with the Volusia County Health Department. Because of her efforts in Spring Hill, Dr. Johnson was awarded an Exceptional Community Partner Award from the Spring Hill Neighborhood Association which was ceremoniously presented to her by the mayor of DeLand.

Research Interest

Neighborhood planning and health, Cancer epidemiology, Social epidemiology, Health disparities and neighborhood environment