Former SUNY Council Member Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Chief Resident, Dr. Johnson Ho Makes His Mark

By Office of the President | Jan 23, 2023

Johnson Ho, M.D. (COM ’18) is a PGY-4 Chief Resident Physician in the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Ho envisions advancing healthcare by innovating minimally invasive therapeutic neurotechnologies.

Dr. Ho is a graduate of CUNY Macaulay Honors College at City College, where he engineered and patented a neuromodulation technology targeting cortical and deep brain structures with clinical applications for chronic pain and post-stroke recovery. Dr. Ho was a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship recipient and valedictorian for the CUNY Grove School of Engineering. 

As a student, Dr. Ho investigated diagnostic tools, injury mechanics, and inflammatory processes of traumatic brain injury in the laboratory of Peter Bergold, Physiology & Pharmacology professor. He was awarded an Alpha Omega Alpha Student Research Fellowship, graduating with distinction. 

Dr. Ho has published multiple peer-reviewed papers and poster presentations, and is first author of “The pros and cons of tDCS as a therapeutic tool in the rehabilitation of chronic pain, recently published in Principles and Practice of Clinical Research. Dr. Ho also completed Downstate’s ACCME-accredited Medical Acupuncture program and received a Resident Physician of the Year Award from Kings County. 

Dr. Ho has volunteered at the Brooklyn Free Clinic and staffed numerous community health fairs and flu shot clinics. He was elected to serve on SUNY Council and the Student Center Governing Board. Though no longer a SUNY Council member, he still attends meetings providing guidance and counsel.

Dr. Ho organized weekly on-campus volleyball events and yearly intramural tournaments. He is now the faculty advisor for the newly-restarted Downstate Volleyball Club and serves as an in-game team physician for high school football teams with the New York City Public School Athletics League.  

When his Queens neighborhood was impacted by flooding during Hurricane Ida, Dr. Ho waded through 6-feet high sewage water to save neighbors. After the hurricane, he helped storm victims complete paperwork, aided in translation (he is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese), and addressed shelter, water, and food insecurity needs. 

Dr. Ho chose his specialty because it blends the elements of pain management, musculoskeletal, and sports medicine. He believes strongly in meaning and purpose, whether through patient consultation, applying interventional procedures to relieve acute or chronic pain, or prescribing therapy for an amputee or stroke survivor. 

Upon completion of his residency in the spring, Dr. Ho will begin an Interventional Pain Medicine Fellowship at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.