Brian A. Johns MD

Biographic summary

Dr. Johns is the Vice President and Head of the HIV Discovery Performance Unit at GlaxoSmithKline.  Dr. Johns oversees a research team of approximately 25 scientists consisting of chemists, immunologists, and virologists with the primary mission to find novel medicines for the treatment, prevention and cure of HIV.  Dr. Johns works closely with Professor David Margolis of UNC Chapel Hill as a co-leader of Qura Therapeutics, a biotech partnership between GSK and UNC with the mission to find a cure for HIV.  He holds an appointment as Adjunct Research Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy at UNC.  Dr. Johns has authored or co-authored over 45 peer reviewed journal articles and is an inventor on more than 70 patent applications.  He is a co-inventor of the antiretroviral drug dolutegravir which is a component of the marketed products Tivicay®, Triumeq® and Jaluca®.  Dr. Johns is a private pilot and enjoys flying in his spare time.  He and his wife Haifa have two children, Benjamin (15) and Mackenzie (14) and reside in North Carolina.