Christen Johnson, MD, MPH, of Columbus, OH, has been appointed as an inaugural member of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness in Family Medicine by the AAFP Board of Directors. Her term of service began on March 23 and ends on Monday, December 14, 2026. On March 23, the first 10 members of the commission were announced. Dr. Johnson is serving as the new physician representative.
Dr. Johnson currently works as a family physician at Heart of Ohio, a federally qualified health center in Columbus. Dr. Johnson has been heavily involved in the charge to diversify the face of medicine and making health disparities an issue of the past. She served as the 2016-17 National President of the Student National Medical Association where she focused on health equity education, supporting minority medical students through mentorship and programming, and a novel research initiative on microaggressions in medical education. She currently serves on the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) Public Policy Committee and recently completed a term on the AAFP Commission on the Health of the Public and Science. Dr. Johnson is also an AAFP Health Equity fellow.
Dr. Johnson earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Biological Sciences and a Certificate in African American and Women’s Gender Studies from the Wright State University in 2012. She then completed a Doctorate of Medicine and a Masters of Public Health from the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University in 2017. Her master’s thesis focused on health disparities. She completed her residency training at The Ohio State University Family Medicine Residency Program.
The AAFP received over 100 applications for appointment to this important commission.
Congratulations, Dr. Johnson!