Clarissa Johnson, MD

Dr. Johnson enjoyed reading as a child, every summer participating in the summer book club at the library which gave out coupons to McDonalds for filling up the form with all the books that were read. Some of the books she read included fictional novels about children with illness such as leukemia and Lupus. This sparked an interest in being a "research scientist" which eventually evolved into an interest in being a doctor. Given her love of working with children, she decided to become a pediatrician. Due to a general interest in math and science, she completed her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at Tuskegee University. She then attended Case Western Reserve University for medical School. Pediatrics residency training was completed at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and pediatric hematology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center.

She encountered many patients with various blood disorders including sickle cell disease during training. This experience focused her attention on Hematology and specifically sickle cell disease. Her research during fellowship training investigated the effect of certain therapies on the red blood cells of people with sickle cell disease.

Dr. Johnson has been working at Cook Children's medical center since 2009 with a focus in treating blood disorders. She continues to have a special interest in sickle disease care. She served on the Texas Sickle Cell Advisory committee to provide recommendations to the state legislature regarding ways to raise awareness about the disease across the state. She serves as medical staff for Camp Jubilee, the annual summer camp for area children with sickle cell disease.

When away from the medical center, she enjoys attending dance performances and Broadway shows as well as traveling and reading.