Matthew Johnson, Ph.D.

Matthew B. Johnson is a developmental neurobiologist and a group leader in the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. His team investigates the interactions between neurodevelopmental critical periods, neuroimmune signaling pathways, and genetic and environmental risk factors for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The group employs a broad range of techniques and model systems including mice, non-human primates, human biosamples, and stem cell-derived neural cultures, to understand how risk factors influence adolescent brain development and psychiatric vulnerability. Johnson is a co-investigator of the NIMH-funded Conte Center for Neuroimmune Studies at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and plays a leadership role in the Schizophrenia Spectrum Biomarkers Consortium, established by the Stanley Center in 2018 with the goal of discovering biomarkers that will enable clinical research into novel treatments for psychiatric disorders.

Prior to joining the Broad Institute in 2017, Johnson completed postdoctoral training in neuroscience and genetics with Christopher Walsh at Boston Children's Hospital, where he researched the developmental contributions of distinct stem cell populations to the complex structure of the cerebral cortex.

Johnson obtained his Ph.D. in neurobiology from Yale University working in the lab of Nenad Sestan, and earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Brown University.

Contact Matthew Johnson via email at johnson@broadinstitute.org.