Nikki Johnston, Ph.D.

Professor

of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences

(Division of Laryngology and Professional Voice and Pediatric Otolaryngology)

and Microbiology and Immunology

Director of Airway, Digestive and Voice Research

Medical College of Wisconsin

Milwaukee, WI 53226

Tel: (414) 955-4075

Email: [email protected]

My research laboratory is:

1) Using pepsin as a diagnostic biomarker for reflux and aspiration

2) Investigating the role of pepsin in reflux-attributed inflammatory and neoplastic disease

3) Leading a multi-disciplinary drug discovery program to develop a therapeutic for reflux disease which specifically targets pepsin.

4) Serving as one of 25 international Pilot Centers for the World Organization for Specialized Studies on Diseases of the Esophagus - Stanford Esophageal Multidisciplinary Program in Innovative Research Excellence (OESO-SEMPIRE). 

I have been invited to present our research as a keynote speaker at national and international scientific and clinical conferences, directed international conferences on extra-esophageal reflux: diagnosis and treatment, edited books on this subject and contributed multiple chapters to others’ textbooks. 

I recently incorporated a new company, N-Zyme Biomedical.  I am a co-founder and the Chief Scientific Officer of N-Zyme Biomedical which has exclusively licensed three patents from the Medical College of Wisconsin: PCT/US2021/027758, Aerosolized formulations of HIV protease inhibitors for the treatment of airway reflux; PCT/US2023/071204, Sustained-release oral fosamprenavir for the treatment of reflux; and PCT/US2021/027758, Methods and compositions for treatment of peptic ulcers and/or peptic ulcer disease. Venture Capital investment in N-Zyme is funding a phase II clinical trial to assess the efficacy of a new sustained-release oral/systemic formulation of fosamprenavir sodium alginate for the treatment of laryngopharyngeal reflux.   Good Lab Practice (GLP) inhalation toxicology studies for a fosamprenavir dry powder inhaler (DPI) for local delivery of fosamprenavir direct to the throat are also underway, funded by a Falk Medical Trust Transformative Award.  These data will support an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a phase I clinical trial of a fosamprenavir DPI.

More information about my research program can be found here: https://www.mcw.edu/departments/ent-Ear-Nose-Throat/research/pepsin-and-reflux-laboratory