Russell A. Johnson, MD
- Pediatrics|
- Internal Medicine
About
Dr. Johnson received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School. Prior to medical school he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Melbourne in Australia and during medical school he was a National Institutes of Health Fogarty Scholar at the International Center for Diarrheal Diseases Research, Bangladesh. Dr. Johnson went on to complete a dual residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Utah. During residency he pursued training in tropical and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) medicine while attending the Gorgas Course in Clinical Tropical Medicine in Lima, Peru. Throughout his final year of residency he gained clinical experience in HIV primary care medicine seeing patients in the University of Utah Clinic 1A. He subsequently became certified as an HIV specialist by the American Academy of HIV Medicine.
Dr. Johnson spends the majority of his clinical time at the UCLA Clinical AIDS Research and Education (CARE) Center. There he provides primary care for patients living with HIV, as well as HIV preventative services for adolescents and adults at risk for HIV infection. Dr. Johnson is also part of the CARE Center’s anal cancer screening and prevention team, performing high resolution anoscopy to diagnose and treat precancerous lesions in at risk individuals. Dr. Johnson spends the remainder of his time seeing pediatric patients at the Santa Monica 16th Street Internal Medicine and Pediatrics clinic, both as a primary care and urgent care physician. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Johnson is involved in teaching medical students, residents, and LGBTQ fellows.
Dr. Johnson is passionate about the medical humanities and health messaging through media. He has published numerous op-eds in news outlets such as STAT! and has a TikTok channel educating viewers about HIV and sexually transmitted infections. In his spare time, he enjoys surfing, telemark skiing, drumming, writing, and traveling.
Languages
Education
Medical Board Certifications
Residency
Degrees
Recognitions
-
LGBTQ+ champion
- Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars 2024, 2025
- Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching, University of Utah Department of Pediatrics, 2015
Locations
CARE Center
UCLA Health Santa Monica 16th Street Immediate Care
Hospital Affiliations
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center
UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital
Medical Services
Areas of Focus
Insurance
- Aetna
- Anthem Blue Cross
- Blue Shield of California
- Centivo
- Cigna
- First Health
- Health Net of California
- Interplan (part of HealthSmart)
- Medicare Advantage
- MultiPlan
- UFCM Health System
- Prime Health Services
- Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
- TRICARE
- UnitedHealthcare
The list of health care plans above may not be comprehensive and could change.
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Recognitions
- Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars 2024, 2025
- Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching, University of Utah Department of Pediatrics, 2015