University of Iowa highlights work of Coal City student

IOWA CITY—As students grab coffee on the way to class and as Iowa citizens commute to work, they may run into a familiar face on—or above—the sidewalks as street banners in downtown Iowa City are now highlighting the work of 70 University of Iowa undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers and scholars.

Preston Johnson, an undergraduate student from Coal City, is one of the students whose research is being highlighted. Johnson’s research appraises unseen cost of mental illness.

“Every day, these students and scholars pursue research and creative activities that not only prepare them for their future careers but also aim to improve the future for all of us,” said Marty Scholtz, vice president for research. “They have applied their knowledge and skills to achieve great things in the classroom and beyond.”

Johnson is currently pursuing a bachelor of science degree in neuroscience with a minor in theatre arts and a certificate in clinical and translational science.

The overall goal of his research, he said, is to better understand the development of serious mental illness and what we can do to better predict functional outcomes.

“A lot of previous work on serious mental illness has focused on treating pronounced clinical symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, but these illnesses still have detrimental effects to one’s livelihood even if clinical symptoms are controlled. In our lab, we study the impact of other important factors on disability in people with serious mental illness, including informational processing skills, social cognition, and motivation,” Johnson said.

“By better understanding how serious mental illness extends beyond clinical symptoms, we can gain a better understanding of the underlying causes of illness and the factors that contribute to daily function, which can guide development of effective intervention strategies.” he added.

“Preston is a great researcher and great human, aside from being someone who vastly understates himself. He helped to get this lab going. He was the first member of the lab before any graduate students or postdocs. He loves what he does, and he goes beyond the lab,” said Melinda Licht, program coordinator, Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates.

Johnson, the son of Travis and Lori Johnson, will graduate in May. He plans to continue his education in an MD/PhD program to become a physician-scientist to one day run his own lab while treating patients.