Erica Susan Johnson

Erica Susan Johnson was born in Atlanta, Georgia in November 1964, to parents Ronald Carl Johnson and Susan Anderson Johnson. Erica attended Fernbank Elementary School and Druid Hills High School, graduating in 1982. Erica earned a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Erica focused her career on biology research, most recently at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. She valued pure science: research to understand how the universe works.

Erica loved travel and visits with family and friends. She was an avid fan of the Mark Morris modern dance group and a dedicated reader of the New York Times. She had a great sense of direction. And she rarely lost a game of Words with Friends. Erica will be greatly missed by those who shared life, education, work and adventures with her.

Erica is survived by her father Ron Johnson, sister Laura Johnson (both in Atlanta), aunts and uncles Judy and Bruce Hadler and Nancy and John Tykwinski (Minnesota), and cousins Richard Johnson (Allentown, Pennsylvania) and Nicole Burke, Bryan Homzik, Justin Hadler and Jordan Hadler (Minnesota). She was preceded in death by her mother, Susan Anderson Johnson and by her uncle Thomas Johnson, aunt Carolyn Johnson, and cousin Theresa Johnson.

Erica died from cancer on March 21, 2026, at the age of 61, too soon. Please support cancer research in her memory.