Biography
Kevin Johnston is a data scientist and mathematician specializing in the analysis of biological data, with a focus on RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics. His research explores neurodegeneration, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, and neuropsychiatry, including major depressive disorder.
Previous Teaching
Johnston primarily taught as a teaching assistant during his graduate studies.
Experience
6 years of teaching experience.
Research & Interests
- Spatial transcriptomics
- Single-cell analysis and methods development
- Machine learning and geometric deep learning
Publications & Projects
- “Single-cell spatial transcriptomics reveals distinct patterns of dysregulation in non-neuronal and neuronal cells induced by the Trem2R47H Alzheimer’s risk gene mutation,” 2025
- “Single-cell spatial transcriptomics reveals a dystrophic trajectory following a developmental bifurcation of myoblast cell fates in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy,” 2024
- “Inferring neuron-neuron communications from single-cell transcriptomics through NeuronChat,” 2023
Presentations
- Poster presentation, CNCM Conference, University of California, Irvine, 2025
- Poster presentation, Red Rock Data Science Conference, 2025
- Faculty sponsor for student posters at UCUR, 2025
Conferences & Workshops
- Center for Neural Circuit Mapping (CNCM) Conference, 2025
- Red Rock Data Science Conference
Awards & Honors
- Della Martin Endowed Postdoctoral Fellowship
- NIH T32 Training Grant
Additional Information
Outside of research, Johnston enjoys chess, hiking, running, and retro video games.