Nicholas E. Johnson, MD, MSCI, FAAN is the Director of the Center for Inherited Myology Research (CIMR), Armas Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Muscular Dystrophy, and vice chair of research in Neurology at Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his undergraduate degree in molecular and cellular biology and psychology at the University of Arizona. He then obtained his medical degree at the University of Arizona. He completed his neurology residency and combined fellowship in neuromuscular medicine and experimental therapeutics at the University of Rochester.

He leads the GRASP-LGMD consortium, which focuses on developing clinical outcomes and biomarkers in the limb girdle muscular dystrophies and the Myotonic Dystrophy Clinical Research Network which focuses on developing clinical outcomes and biomarkers in the myotonic dystrophies.  Both networks include sites across the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand with multiple natural history protocols.  His laboratory is focused on identifying the pathogenesis and progression of myotonic dystrophy, and biomarkers in limb girdle muscular dystrophy. Johnson conducts genetic therapeutic trials using both viral and non-viral approaches in many inherited nerve and muscle disorders, including limb girdle muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy, and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.