Meet Daniel Johnson Jr: Bioinformatician & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Daniel Johnson Jr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Daniel, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
One of my favorite quotes is “You have the vision, trust your creativity. You have the ability, implement your knowledge. You have the time, take yourself serious.” These words stand out to me for a number of reasons, they motivate me to execute on my ideas because you never know what doors will open up as you continue to learn and grow throughout the process. They remind me that I have all that I need within myself to see it through as long as I trust myself and keep an open mind when challenges occur. I understand that mistakes are lessons and when you believe in yourself, others will begin to notice and the right ones will be drawn to you and be willing to assist you with whatever it is that you need.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My career began with opportunities to use my technical skills to solve biological and medical problems. In identifying my strengths and weaknesses, I’ve become intentional with how I spend my time, and exfoliate the relationships I’ve developed. I’ve come to realize that I’m a problem solver. I do well with accepting challenges and seeking new opportunities to grow. In engulfing myself in self development books and travel, I’ve been drawn to different cultures that connect diverse types of people on a more personal level. This inspired me to start my own tech company, BuzzHealth. I’ve learned through this entrepreneurial journey that I must develop a love for constant problem solving; relating to formulating the idea and releasing the product you must consistently iterate, fail, iterate, fail and iterate in order to succeed. I’m interested in the intersection between health, technology and business where I may collaborate and explore techniques within the realm of mobile, machine learning and augmented reality. Some of my experience and the work that I’m doing now involve medical imaging analysis, observing a users quality of life through social media and Covid-19 response communication tools. To my knowledge, I’m one of the few African Americans to be trained and have a Master’s Degree in Bioinformatics. I’m motivated to create and innovate new tools and technologies to integrate into hospitals and clinics within minority communities where they may lack certain resources and expertise to accurately serve these populations. I’ve only met a few other Bioinformaticians that are working to make a similar impact in this space.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My favorite restaurants are Janga By Derrick’s, Honey’s Kettle, and My Two Cents. I enjoy hiking at Solstice Canyon and on Sunday’s stopping by the Melrose Trading Post to support local small businesses and vendors. The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
God. Family. I keep a small circle of friends that support me and keep me encouraged. I would like to give a shoutout to my grandfather, Garland Wimbush. He passed away a couple of months ago but I came out of the grieving process inspired. Lessons that I found he gifted me include love, loyalty, hustle and commitment. His legacy lives on in a subtle yet very effective way. In the app store for both Apple & Google Play if you look closely at the BuzzHealth app preview you’ll see his name along with a few others that mean something to me and my journey. I’d also like to shoutout Morehouse College for helping sculpt me into the man that I am today. Finally I’d like to give a shoutout to UCLA for the training and exposure to a deeper understanding of the field and providing a complimentary space for me to recognize my potential.

Website: https://www.danieljohnsonjr.co

Instagram: @dvn.jr

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielejohnsonjr

Image Credits
Ulato Sam