Professor Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson is Professor of Child Health at the University of Southampton and an honorary consultant neonatologist at Southampton Children’s Hospital, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. Mark graduated in medicine (BM) from the University of Southampton in 2004, and undertook an intercalated degree in biomedical science during his medical training. He was awarded a prestigious NIHR doctoral research fellowship to fund his PhD, which he was awarded by the University of Southampton in 2015. Mark’s PhD focused on change management in neonatal care in the context of nutrition, successfully implementing improved nutritional practices in order to improve the growth of preterm infants.

Mark's research centres around the nutritional care and growth of premature babies, and the implementation of practice change in order to improve care, and has published on these topics widely, including systematic reviews looking at the use of early parenteral nutrition in preterm infants, the impact of enhanced nutrition on the neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants and the effect of preterm birth on body composition and growth. He has also contributed to national and international guidance on nutritional care, including the recent ESPGHAN enteral nutrition guidance.

Mark has been the Academic Career Development lead for the nutrition, lifestyle and metabolism theme of the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre for nine years, supporting early career researchers build their careers and access straining and funding opportunities.