Menino names Johnson to Health Commission board

Banner Staff

Mayor Thomas M. Menino recently announced the appointment of Dr. Paula A. Johnson, M.D., M.P.H., to the board of the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC). Johnson, who serves as executive director of the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology, as well as chief of the Division of Women’s Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, attended her first BPHC meeting this week.

Johnson replaces Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, who was appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick to be the state’s Secretary of Health and Human Services.

“I am so pleased that Dr. Johnson has joined the board of the Public Health Commission,” Menino said.  “She will add to an already great board and will help us continue our progress and leadership in promoting the health and wellbeing of all Bostonians.”

Johnson, a cardiologist and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, was named a leader in her field by the National Library of Medicine, who included her in “Changing the Face of Medicine,” their exhibition on prominent female physicians.

She has been on the staff at Brigham and Women’s Hospital since 1990, becoming the first African American woman to hold the post of chief medical resident. Considered a pioneer in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease in women, Johnson conceived and developed one of the country’s first programs focusing on heart disease in women.

An expert in health care disparities for both women and minorities, Johnson has been an active participant in the Disparities Project, an effort to eliminate racial and ethnic inequities in Boston’s health care system.

She is also a leader in public health efforts to address access to affordable and healthy food for low-income residents of the city.  Her efforts contributed to a major policy conference last year called “Food in the Hub,” which provided a set of recommendations regarding food and nutrition policies in Boston.

Johnson graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1985 and received a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health that same year. She is married and has two children.