Paula JohnsonSpeaker and Booking Agent Information

A cardiologist, President Johnson was the Grayce A. Young Family Professor in Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School. (The endowed professorship was named in honor of her mother.) She was also professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research has had an impact on women across the United States through its influence on health care reform. She also led the development of a case-based curriculum, which is influencing the development of emerging leaders seeking to improve the health of women globally.

President Johnson was elected to the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine), the nation’s leading advisory organization providing expertise on issues relating to biomedical science, medicine, and health. She has also been recognized as a national leader in medicine by the National Library of Medicine and has received numerous awards for her contributions to women’s health and public health. Her 2013 TED talk, “His and hers...healthcare,” which has had more than 1 million views, was recently named by TED as one of the “top 10 TED talks by women that everyone should watch,” and has helped raise awareness of the importance of sex differences to understanding women’s health.

Her vision, research, and ability to lead at the intersection of education, health care and public health have earned President Johnson key leadership roles in the local and national arenas, including the chair of the board of the Boston Public Health Commission, member of the National Institutes of Health Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health, and membership in numerous national and international boards and committees. She is a respected board leader, serving on numerous nonprofit boards, most recently including the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the newly formed Mary Christie Foundation, whose mission is to have an impact on policy focused on the health and wellness of students globally.

President Johnson attended Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, received her M.D. and M.P.H. degrees from Harvard, and trained in internal medicine and cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. A native of Brooklyn, New York, she and her husband have a son and a daughter and two Havanese puppies, Buddy and Hope.