Hillary Johnson, MD, PhD, MS, FAAD, FACMS

Dr. Hillary Johnson is a Board-Certified Dermatologist and a Board-Certified and Fellowship-Trained Mohs Micrographic Skin Cancer Surgeon with over 15 years of experience. She is the founding director of the Forefront Dermatology Laser and Surgery Center. Located in Coralville, it’s Iowa’s only specially awarded Laser Center of Excellence by Candela Medical.

Dr. Johnson specializes in treatment and prevention of skin cancer with caring attention tailored to each person’s goals and comfort. She can address sun damage that contributes to skin cancer risk and photoaging. Her aesthetic sensibility was honed by years of training and practice in New York City where she was Director of Dermatologic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical Center. Having grown up in Ottumwa, Dr. Johnson returned home to Iowa to settle in the Midwest. Before joining Forefront Dermatology, she practiced at the University of Iowa for 7 years with awards for teaching and making a difference in patient care. Dr. Johnson finds it very rewarding to assist patients over time and work together to improve skin health. Dr. Johnson offers several advanced laser and aesthetic services to a diverse community of patients both within Iowa and traveling from afar.

Dr. Johnson received a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology with Highest Honors at the University of Iowa and then completed her medical education and doctorate in immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Johnson’s research focused on how immune cells fight cancer and she decided to focus on patients with a high risk of skin cancer. Following an internship in preliminary internal medicine at the Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, she trained in dermatology at top-ranked New York University School of Medicine.  She next completed an intensive 2-year fellowship training program in skin cancer surgery, advanced facial reconstruction, and procedural dermatology. While in training, she initiated one of the first research projects looking at patient safety in the field of dermatology. She is a published author of several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and has lectured at universities and national meetings of multiple medical associations. Her professional interests also include using data to improve quality and increase access to health care. Dr. Johnson has been recognized as an Iowa Medical Society Women in Medicine Month Leader and an Inspirational Leader by the American Medical Association Women Physicians Section.