Sterling Johnson, PhD

Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor
Jean R. Finley Professor of Geriatrics and Dementia
Associate Director, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute
Lead Principal Investigator, Consortium for Clarity in ADRD Research Through Imaging (CLARiTI)
Associate Director, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC)
Director, Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention
Leader, Biomarker Core, Wisconsin ADRC
Affiliate Faculty, Institute on Aging & Department of Psychology
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Sterling C. Johnson, PhD, is a clinical neuropsychologist and awardee of the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorship at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and has devoted his career to the study of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). His research focuses on identifying the earliest biological and cognitive changes associated with neurodegenerative diseases — work that contributes to patient-centric improvements in early detection, classification and ultimately the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Johnson is the principal investigator of the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP), a longitudinal study of adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. He serves as associate director of the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, where he also leads the Biomarker Core, and the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute. Across these efforts, Johnson has advanced the integration of imaging, cognitive and fluid biomarker data to support more individualized and earlier identification of disease processes.

In 2023, Johnson helped launch and lead the Consortium for Clarity in ADRD Research Through Imaging (CLARiTI) — a nationwide initiative that brings together over 30 federally-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers in a coordinated effort to study the complex, multi-etiology nature of the neurodegenerative diseases that cause dementia. CLARiTI is employing harmonized brain imaging and blood biomarker protocols across the ADRC network, enabling cross-center discovery. The initiative is uniting investigators across disciplines and institutions to unravel the overlapping pathologies of cognitive decline — including beta-amyloid, tau, TDP-43, and beyond — with the aim of improving diagnosis, guiding individualized medicine and accelerating therapeutic development.

Johnson is a member of the Department of Medicine, Department of Psychology, and Institute on Aging at UW–Madison.

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