Dr Jo-Anne Johnson

Jo-Anne is an Associate Professor of Medical Education and Research Development. Through her various leadership roles she has been at the centre of education and research development at ARU School of Medicine since its inception in 2018.

She is currently the Head of Undergraduate Medicine, where she has responsibility for all aspects of the design and delivery of the the MBChB programme.

[email protected]

LinkedIn profile

Background

Jo-Anne completed a Wellcome Trust-funded Clinical Research Training Fellowship in respiratory developmental biology at the University of Cambridge in 2018, where she gained her PhD. Jo-Anne joined ARU School of Medicine in 2018, initially leading in curriculum design and delivery of several disciplines including embryology, genetics, and paediatrics.

From 2019, as Phase 2 Lead at the School of Medicine, Jo-Anne developed the inaugural years 2 and 3 of the MBChB programme. From 2020, as Assessment Lead, Jo-Anne developed and continues to lead all aspects of Undergraduate Assessments at the School of Medicine.

In her role as Research and Innovation Lead for the School, Jo-Anne has developed Essex’s first postgraduate Clinical Academic Training pathway, and through successful funding bids from the NIHR and Wellcome Trust, has developed multiple opportunities for undergraduate medical students in research and innovation. She is currently leading on the development of home-grown research at the School, which includes a new Primary Care Research Centre, and the Institute of Excellence in Robotic Surgery.

Jo-Anne became Head of Undergraduate Medicine at ARU in February 2024 and through this role leads on all aspects of the MBChB programme design and delivery, including the new Medical Degree Doctor Apprenticeship.

Clinically, Jo-Anne’s expertise is within Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, most recently developing an ambulatory Paediatric Sleep Service at ESNEFT, which provides accessible diagnostics in sleep-disordered breathing for patients across Essex.

Research interests

• Medical education
• Sleep Medicine
• Developmental biology

Areas of research supervision

• PhD by publication – Vickie Kong – Improving Precision of Radiotherapy for Prostate and Bladder Cancer - completed November 2023
• Professional Doctorate – Carlos Aparicio – A Mixed-Method Assessment of a Night-Time Noise Reduction Intervention in an Acute Medical Ward - September 2018 to September 2024
• Professional Doctorate – Ying Huang - Exploring Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Referrals in the East of England - September 2021 to September 2027

Qualifications

• PGCert Higher Education, ARU, May 2021
• PhD, Developmental Biology, University of Cambridge, November 2018
• MBChB, University of Leeds, July 2001

Memberships, editorial boards

• Membership of NIHR Academy, August 2023
• Lead and Co-Chair of The Institute of Excellence in Robotic Surgery (ARU-ESNEFT), February 2022
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), May 2021
• Member of Medical Schools Council AKT Exam Construction Group, March 2021
• Member of Medical Schools Council Assessment Alliance, December 2020
• Member of the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health, June 2006
• Full registration with the General Medical Council, August 2002

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

• NIHR new medical Schools Intercalated Degrees and Internships bid, £1.4M, April 2024
• NHSEngland Academic Clinical Fellowships, £78,000, December 2023
• NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowships, £500,000, August 2023
• NHSEngland Specialist Foundation Posts, £836,000, March 2023
• Office for Veteran’s Affairs Health Innovation Fund (Co-I), £91,849, July 2023
• Wellcome Trust Inspire Scheme, £20,000, August 2022
• The Institute of Excellence in Robotic Surgery (ESNEFT-ARU), £995,000 pump priming investment ESNEFT, February 2022

Selected recent publications

Ahluwalia S, Fenton T, Roder C, Spurling LF, Cork SC, Winnett G, Ahsan E, Johnson JA, Bishop P. The medical doctor (degree) apprenticeship. Med Teach. 2024 Oct 31:1-7.

Silva Correia IF, Hussain M, Johnson JA. Obstetric management for pregnant women with Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome: A UK case report and review of the literature. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2024 Sep.

Johnson JA, Ahluwalia S. Neurodiversity in the healthcare profession. Postgrad Med J. 2024 Aug.

Johnson JA, Burrows K, Trinidade A. Running a paediatric ambulatory sleep service in a pandemic and beyond. Clinical Otolaryngology, 47(3), 433-439, 2022.

Hossain S, Shah S, Scott J, Dunn A, Hartland AW, Hudson S, Johnson JA. Reinventing Undergraduate Clinical Placements with a Switch to Delivery by Clinical Teaching Fellows: A Medical Student’s Perspective [Response to Letter]. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 11;12:1429-1438, 2022.

Gadi N, Saleh S, Johnson JA, Trinidade A. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lifestyle & behaviors, mental health, and education of students studying healthcare-related courses at a British university. BMC Medical Education, 22(1), 115, 2022.

Johnson JA, Watson, JK, Nikolić MZ, Rawlins EL. Fank1 and Jazf1 promote multiciliated cell differentiation in the mouse airway epithelium. Biology Open, 7(4), bio033944, 2018.

Recent presentations and conferences

International:

Johnson JA, Burrows K. Running a Paediatric Sleep Service During a Pandemic. World Sleep Congress, Rome, Italy (March 2022).

K Burrows, Johnson JA. Optimising the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea in children. World Sleep Conference. (March 2022).

National:

Tao, C. J., Gibby, A., Burrows, K., Johnson, J.-A., Patil, S., & Polychronakis, T. P15 Predictors of obstructive sleep apnoea in children with obesity. British Sleep Society Annual Conference (November 2023).

Milton, C., Creese, J., Burrows, K., Moore, C., Hayden, K., Kemp, E., & Johnson, J.-A. Cytokine storm biomarkers and clinical presentation in children presenting with PIMS-TS – an observational cohort study. RCPCH Annual Conference (April 2023).

Sharma, A., Adedokun, P., Brightwell, A., Johnson, J.-A., Stevens, V., Hendriks, E., Cholidis, N. PURE – a near-peer tutorship programme to improve paediatric medical education. RCPCH Annual Conference (April 2023).

Ali, Majid, Ines Da-Silva-Correia, Gandhi, Ankesh Ghandi, Jo-Anne Johnson, Ben Miranda. The lived experience of an initial cohort of medical students entering a newly established medical school. DEMEC Conference. (Dec 2022).

Chiara Corriero A, Johnson JA, Milner N, Javaid M. Novel Neuroanatomy E-learning Pedagogical Program to address Neurophobia- Undergraduate Medical students’. Feedback during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Anatomical Society, Glasgow University, virtual (Jul 2021).