Robert L. Johnson, MD, FAAP is The Sharon and Joseph L. Muscarelle Endowed Dean, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), and the Interim Dean of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS). His clinical expertise and research focuses on adolescent physical and mental health, adolescent HIV, adolescent violence, adolescent sexuality, health equity and family strengthening. He Chairs the New Jersey Governor’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, the Newark Ryan White Planning Council, and the Board of Deacons at Union Baptist Church in Orange, N.J.  He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Vice Chair of the Community Prevention Task Force of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a former member of the Board of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education at the National Academies of Science. He has previously been the President of the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners, the Chair of the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Council on Graduate Medical Education, a member of the National Council of the National Institute of Mental Health, member of the NIH AIDS Research Council and member, Institute of Medicine, Health Care Services Board.  Dr. Johnson received his BA from Alfred University in 1968 and his MD from the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ in 1972.

Dr. Johnson has become a well-recognized spokesperson for the adolescent and adolescent issues.  He yearly addresses many local, state, national and international audiences and frequently appears on television and radio. He has published widely, and he conducts an active schedule of teaching, research and clinical practice at NJMS.