Nick Johnson (MPH 2016) co-leads the statistics team serving the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For Nick Johnson, who graduated with his MPH from Georgia State in 2016, earning his master’s degree was a pathway to his doctoral degree program. For the practicum experience he was required to complete as part of his program, Johnson conducted research alongside Karen Conneely, PhD, of the Emory University School of Medicine.
“I was thinking about doing a PhD program while I was doing my masters, so it was nice to get some experience with a professor who was doing research in the area that I was interested in,” said Johnson, who earned his MPH with a concentration in Biostatistics.
Johnson enrolled in his Ph.D. program at Emory University immediately after completing his master’s degree. There, he continued to work with Conneely. “It was a pretty smooth transition for me,” Johnson said. “I was lucky because I had already found the person that I liked working with.”
After finishing his PhD, Johnson began a fellowship at the CDC, where he worked on a pilot study of a randomized control trial comparing two types of vaccines. At the end of the fellowship, Johnson remained with the CDC, transitioning to his current role with the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases (DFWED). He serves as a member of the statistics team and reviews the statistical elements of research manuscripts before they are submitted for publication.
Though Johnson’s practicum experience was the highlight of his time in Georgia State’s MPH program, he also found the coursework – especially statistics and linear regression courses – to be beneficial for his career.
“When you take the statistics courses, it’s very interpretation-heavy,” Johnson said. “It’s a good thing to understand how to interpret things correctly and the right way to say things in terms of how you interpret your results. I think they taught that part really well.”
Johnson encourages students who are interested in Georgia State’s MPH program not to hesitate in reaching out to faculty whose research interests them.
“Being proactive about networking is really going to help you out,” Johnson said. “Take the opportunity to understand how you can join the program and hit the ground running.”