Former U of A Researcher Wins Young Investigator Award

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Evan Johnson, left, and Stavros Kavouras, his mentor, are pictured at the Hydration 4 Health Conference last summer in France.

Evan Johnson, who previously held a post-doctoral associate's position at the University of Arkansas, received the 2015 Young Investigator Award at the Hydration 4 Health conference in France last summer.

Johnson worked with Stavros Kavouras, U of A associate professor of exercise science, on hydration research in the Human Performance Laboratory in the College of Education and Health Professions. Johnson is now an assistant professor of exercise physiology at the University of Wyoming.

Johnson's study showed that inadequate total water intake in people with Type 2 diabetes can negatively impact their glucose regulation possibly via cortisol-mediated responses. Cortisol is a stress hormone, and stress in general is linked to diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and obesity.

Johnson and Kavouras found that, when patients with Type 2 diabetes were dehydrated, it negatively affected their ability to regulate blood glucose. They speculated that the dehydration induced an increase in cortisol, which was responsible for the poor glucose regulation.

Johnson completed doctoral and master's degrees at the University of Connecticut and is now on the faculty of the University of Wyoming. He has led eight research studies and assisted with more than 20 total projects, resulting in 24 publications, 15 of which related to hydration physiology, and six as lead author. He has presented research findings at national and international meetings including Hydration 4 Health in 2012. Between his master's and doctoral degrees, Johnson worked as a researcher at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, specializing in optimizing safety during Navy SEAL training.