Kirsten Johnson, MD, PhD

Kirsten Johnson, MD, PhD is a board-certified dermatology physician scientist within the University Hospitals’ Department of Dermatology with a focus on skin cancer research. She is a member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, and of UH’s Multidisciplinary Cutaneous Oncology Conference. In addition to caring for patients with a variety general skin conditions and providing routine skin cancer monitoring and prevention, Dr. Johnson has a special clinical interest in caring for patients with complex dermatologic conditions. She also routinely performs outpatient surgical excisions for benign skin lesions (cysts, lipomas) and for treatment of low-risk skin cancers.

Dr. Johnson’s translational research laboratory focuses on optimization and delivery of natural killer (NK) cellular therapy in skin cancers. She conducts investigator-initiated clinical trials in this area, in addition to performing correlative bench research at Case Western Reserve University. She enjoys working with and mentoring students.

Dr. Johnson completed her MD/PhD training at the Ohio State University, followed by internship in the IM/Pediatrics program at Banner University/Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. She then completed her dermatology training at the Ohio State University, where she was a Chief Resident. She joined the UH Department of Dermatology in 2026.