Julene K Johnson, PhD is both the Interim Associate Dean of Research for the UCSF School of Nursing and the Associate Director at the UCSF Institute for Health & Aging. She is also a faculty mentor in the UCSF Center for Aging in Diverse Communities. Dr. Johnson is a cognitive neuroscientist and obtained her PhD at the University of Texas at Dallas and completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, Irvine's Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia.

Dr. Johnson's research program focuses on cognitive aging and covers two primary themes: 1) developing cost-effective and novel community-based programs to promote health and well-being of diverse older adults and 2) studying mild cognitive impairment as a risk for dementia and functional decline. Her research on community-based health promotion involves culturally and racial/ethnically diverse older adults. She is currently collaborating with the San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services to study the effect of a community choir program on the health and well-being of diverse older adults. In 2010, she was a Fulbright scholar in Finland where she studied how singing in a community choir influences quality of life and well-being. She is currently on the Fulbright Specialist Roster (2012-2017).

Community of Voices study website: www.communityofvoices.org

Dr. Johnson was the UCSF campus representative and Chair of the Advisory Committee for the University of California Humanities Research Institute (2013-2016) http://uchri.org/uchri/advisory-committee/