Teaching Activities: Dr. Johnsen taught predoctoral pediatric dentistry at West Virginia University & Case Western Reserve University and was department chair and director of the pediatric dentistry residency program at Case Western Reserve University (1990-1995).
Clinical Activities: Dr. Johnsen has been involved in private pediatric practice, pediatric clinics, or intramural faculty practice since 1974.
Research Dr. Johnsen's research has focused on innervation of teeth as an indicator of capacity to transmit pain sensory impulses and also on caries patterns in preschoolers. The latter area included demonstration projects and consulting at the national level in the Women and Infant Clinics (WIC) and the Head Start programs. He has also published on a variety of clinical and educational topics.
Activities: Dr. Johnsen has received grants from both public and private sources to support research projects and for programs to provide dental care for children and people with disabilities. His research has focused on the innervation of teeth and the early caries process. The focus on the early caries process has been assessing dental decay as a distinct pattern of disease, designing ways to prevent the disease and building those interventions into health networks. Dr. Johnsen has been a frequent contributor to the scientific literature and has presented the results of his research to state and national organizations.
National or International Professional Appointments and Activities: Dr. Johnsen served on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry from 1988-1991. He received the Achievement Award from the Ohio Dental Association in 1992. Dr. Johnsen served as child health advocate for the American academy of Pediatric Dentistry from 1992-1995 and received the Distinguished Service Award in 1996. He served on the American Dental Education Association Council of Deans Board from 1998-2001 and as president of the American Dental Education Association from 2002-2003.
Dr. Johnsen's university service has included serving as chair of the Case Western Reserve University Faculty Senate in 1994. At The University of Iowa, he served as chair of the search committee for the CEO of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in 2002; as co-convener of the Health Sciences Policy Council from 2003-04; as co-chair of the University Task Force on Clinical and Translational Research in 2005-06; as chair of the nursing dean search in 2006; and as chair of the University presidential search in 2007.E-mail: David C. Johnsen