Kristin Johnson is a physical therapist with more than eight years of clinical experience helping people recover from injuries and neurological conditions to restore movement and function. Before becoming a researcher, she was a professional softball player and collegiate All-American, later coaching female college athletes. These experiences inspired her passion for understanding how the body and brain work together to control movement – and how this knowledge can improve rehabilitation and performance.

Her research focuses on how the brain, muscles and hormones interact to influence movement and balance. She studies ways to improve rehabilitation programs for people recovering from injury or living with neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS). Her current work investigates how hormone changes across the menstrual cycle affect brain activity, muscle fatigue and movement control in women – with the goal of personalizing care and training for women across all stages of life.

Learn more about her work:
National Multiple Sclerosis Society – Is it MS or Menstruation?
University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center – Sex Hormones and Sports Injuries in Female Athletes