Richard Johnston

Dr. Richard Johnston is Professor of Pharmacology and Assistant Dean for Research at the Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine (IllinoisCOM) at The Chicago School. He earned his Bachelor of Science with Program Honors in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh, graduating summa cum laude, and completed his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology at West Virginia University, where he developed a strong interest in respiratory biology. He then pursued post-doctoral training in lung biology and respiratory disease at the Harvard School of Public Health, supported by fellowships from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American Lung Association.

Before joining IllinoisCOM in 2025, Dr. Johnston served as a Research Pharmacologist at The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for eight years and held faculty appointments for more than a decade within The University of Texas System.

Dr. Johnston's career combines active biomedical research with deep commitment to education and mentorship. His scientific work focuses on the determinants of airway hyperresponsiveness in animal models of asthma, with contributions to understanding the roles of adipocytokines, obesity, and ozone in this phenomenon. His research has been funded by the NIH and the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA), and he has served as a grant reviewer for the NIH, NORA, and the Netherlands Asthma Foundation. He has mentored students and trainees across the biomedical sciences and has taught physiology and pharmacology in multiple professional programs.

Dr. Johnston is an active member of several professional societies, including the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology; the American Physiological Society; the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics; and the American Thoracic Society (ATS). Within the ATS, he has served on the Members in Transition and Training, Membership, Planning and Evaluation, and Awards Committees; the Underrepresented Trainee Development Scholarship Subcommittee; and the editorial board of the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. He previously co-chaired the ATS Ph.D. and Basic and Translational Scientist Working Group and currently co-chairs the ATS New Faculty Boot Camp. In recognition of his service and leadership within the ATS and his contributions to the field of pulmonary medicine, Dr. Johnston was named an inaugural ATS Fellow in 2018.