No. 3: Robert Johnson

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Since 2011, Johnson has served as dean of the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School – the state’s oldest medical school.

Johnson is also a professor of pediatrics and the director of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the school.

With decades of experience, Johnson’s clinical expertise and research focuses on adolescent physical and mental health, HIV, violence, sexuality, as well as health equity and family strengthening. He is a widely recognized spokesperson for adolescents and adolescent issues with regular media appearances and published work on the topic.

He chairs the New Jersey Governor’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and Related Blood Borne Pathogens and the Newark Ryan White Planning Council.

Johnson is also at the center of the planned merger of New Jersey Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School into a single accreditation as Rutgers School of Medicine – which was recently approved by the Rutgers board of governors.

“In the past, the two medical schools have been competitors for talent and resources. Now, we can be allies in attracting students, grants, and faculty who are pioneers in their fields,” Johnson co-wrote in a message to the Rutgers Health community earlier this month along with Dr. Amy Murtha, dean of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “As the state university, Rutgers and now Rutgers School of Medicine, we have an obligation to the residents of New Jersey to lead in transformative health care delivery. Through the creation of Rutgers School of Medicine, with campuses in Newark and New Brunswick, we will have an academic health care delivery enterprise that will better serve all New Jersey communities.”