Who is John “Wick” Johnson?
A Road With Many Turns
John H. “Wick” Johnson was born in Dallas, TX. When
he was a boy, his main interest was fish and fishing. He could never get
enough learning about the various species of fish. He wanted to know their
habits, habitats, prey, and, as a result, a great deal of their
physiology. He received a rod and reel for his 10th birthday
and fished every time he was allowed. He read every magazine and book on
fish he could get his hands on. When he was 12, his family moved within a
bicycle ride from a stream and lake. Also that year, he received a fly
rod. This opened up a whole new area because he could learn how to tie
flies. For this, he had to learn a lot of aquatic entomology to tie the
proper imitation of a species of insect. Anatomy was involved in this
activity as the insects differ anatomically, as do the vertebrate
imitations that are used in fly fishing. This is a passion he enjoys with
his wife to this day. They fly fish for everything from sunfish in fresh
water to tarpon and sailfish in salt water.
An English Major Playing Sports
Wick decided to go to college at Oklahoma State
University in order to be able to play varsity basketball under Henry Iba,
a very famous coach at the time. He enrolled as an English Literature
major. It was somewhat serendipitous how he discovered his interest in
science. At the end of the second semester of his junior year, he
discovered that he had fulfilled all the undergraduate requirements for
his English Literature degree. So, as a lark, he took a cell biology class
during that second semester.
It turned out to be the most fascinating course he
had taken as an undergraduate to date. As he looks back on it, this was
probably due to the way the course was taught and the fact that he was an
English major. The professor included the names and history behind the
people responsible for advances in concepts. The course was tough in that
it was as much biochemistry as cell biology and the work involved was
extensive, but the lectures were the most captivating of any he had
attended. From there he took science courses as electives and was able to
fulfill the requirements for a second undergraduate degree in
Microbiology, one year after obtaining the English degree.
Physiology Training
He received his PhD degree in 1978 from Oklahoma
State University where his research was on the changes in the biophysics
of membranes during bacterial cell division. After a postdoctoral
fellowship in biochemistry at Cornell University studying signal
transduction in tumor cells, Dr. Johnson joined the faculty of the
Departments of Internal Medicine and Physiology at the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical School in 1981. As he began his research in the field
of diabetes, it became quickly apparent to him that an understanding
physiology and metabolism was essential to his work. Although he had taken
a number of courses during his undergraduate and graduate studies, whole
animal physiology was something that required a new set of tools and
expanded his appreciation of the complexities of system interactions. It
soon became apparent that the pathways and genes were only part of the
story.
Changing Career Paths
Dr. Johnson’s career path has been a road that has
taken many turns. However, even today he isn’t sure that the career path
hasn’t decided on him rather than him deciding on it. In 1996, he was
recruited to Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research to continue his work in
diabetes. The seminal events in his transition to his present position
were two-fold.
First, shortly after joining Parke-Davis, he was
placed on drug development teams in addition to his research
responsibilities. He had absolutely no idea of what was involved in taking
a drug from the bench to the patient. Finding a promising chemical entity
for a disease is really what people envision the process to be and, to be
sure, this is a major part of the business. However, the meticulous design
and conduct of safety studies and clinical trials, the work that goes into
making manufacturing feasible, the financial considerations and
interactions with the regulatory authorities are huge.
The second involved event was the need to obtain
outside assistance and technologies. Most pharmaceutical companies have
neither the time nor the personnel to develop technology that may be of
limited use beyond the current need. Therefore, they enter into
collaborative or contract arrangements with biotech and other companies
that have the needed expertise. Negotiating terms that gives both parties
the necessary deliverables without compromising either party is quite
formidable at times. In addition, managing the collaboration can be
difficult because of intellectual property protection needs. Dr. Johnson
ended up being a principal in a number of these collaborations. Then, when
Pfizer and Parke-Davis merged, he was asked to take a position in
Licensing and Development. Because he had thoroughly enjoyed the previous
experiences, he chose to do so.
Current Job
His current position is Director of Licensing and
Development for Pfizer, Inc. His job is to canvas the world for new and
unique approaches to treating cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, like
diabetes and obesity. This entails finding out as much as possible about
the therapy, assessing its technical merit at a high level, working with a
technical team for a more in-depth evaluation, working with teams from
both Pfizer and the other party to craft an acceptable agreement, and
present the opportunity to Pfizer’s senior management. Even though Dr.
Johnson’s current position requires a lot of traveling, he finds the
challenge very rewarding.
For Fun
When he’s not working, Dr. Johnson and his wife both
love to fly fish. He also plays golf whenever he can.
Dr. Johnson has also coached youth basketball for the
YMCA and Boy’s Clubs. He has also served on the Board of Trustees for the
Hands-On Science Museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Advice for Graduate Students
Choose your postdoctoral fellowship carefully. Use
this opportunity to broaden your skills. Do not make it a simple
continuation of your graduate program.
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