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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 kinds 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 10^th 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 near a stream and lake that were within a bicycle ride. Also that year, he received a fly rod. This opened up a whole new area for him because he could learn how to tie flies. For this, he had to learn a lot about insects that lived around water so that he could tie a fly that looked like the different real insects. Anatomy was important in this activity, as the various insects differ anatomically, as do the other types of non-insect lures 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 unforeseen how he discovered his interest in science. At the end of his third year, he found out that he had taken all the classes he needed for his English Literature degree. So as a joke, he took a cell biology class.

It turned out to be the most fascinating class Wick had taken in college to date. As he looks back on it, this was probably because of the way it was taught and the fact that he was an English major. The teacher included the names and history behind the people responsible for making the big jumps in ideas. The course was tough in that it was as much biochemistry as cell biology and the work involved was huge, but the lectures were the most interesting of any he had gone to in college. From there on Wick took science courses as electives and was able to finish the classes needed for a second degree in Microbiology, one year after obtaining the English degree.

First, shortly after joining Parke-Davis, Dr. Johnson 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 think the process is and, to be sure, this is a major part of the business. However, the careful design and conduct of safety studies and clinical trials, the work that goes into making manufacturing possible, the financial considerations and interactions with the regulatory authorities are huge.

The second 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. Being involved in the negotiations between the companies that allows both sides to get something without either side giving too much away can be very difficult at times. In addition, managing the joint effort can be difficult because of intellectual property protection needs. Dr. Johnson ended up being in charge of a number of these joint efforts. Then, when Pfizer and Parke-Davis merged, he was asked to take a job in Licensing and Development. Because he had really enjoyed the previous experiences, he decided to accept the offer. 

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.