Willi Horner-Johnson, Ph.D. (she/her)

  • Professor, OHSU-PSU School of Public Health
  • Professor, Institute on Development and Disability, School of Medicine

Biography

Willi Horner-Johnson is a Professor in the collaborative OHSU-Portland State University School of Public Health and in OHSU’s Institute on Development and Disability. She attended graduate school at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she received a Ph.D. in Community Psychology with a minor in Statistics, Methods, and Measurement. Her research interests include difficulties people with disabilities encounter when trying to get the health care they need; reproductive health of adolescents and adults with disabilities; and pregnancy care and outcomes. Willi directs the Oregon Office on Disability and Health and is co-director of the National Center for Disability and Pregnancy Research. She is a co-founder and former chair of the Disability Section of the Oregon Public Health Association, a past chair of the American Public Health Association’s Disability Section, and an editorial board member for Disability and Health Journal.

Education and training

  • Degrees

    • Ph.D., 2002, University of Illinois

Memberships and associations:

  • American Public Health Association
  • American Association on Health and Disability
  • American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
  • International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
  • Editorial Board, Disability and Health Journal

Areas of interest

  • Reproductive health of women with disabilities
  • Receipt of health care among people with disabilities
  • Health-related quality of life among people with disabilities.
  • Abuse/maltreatment of people with disabilities

Honors and awards

  • 2024 - OHSU Distinguished Faculty Outstanding Research Award
  • 2021 - Charles E. Gibbs Leadership Prize for Women’s Health Research, awarded by the editorial board of Women's Health Issues
  • 2009 - New Investigator Award, awarded by the Disability Section of the American Public Health Association

Publications

Selected publications

  • Gabor A, Stephens J, McKee MM, Brown HK, Ayers KB, Valentine A, Horner-Johnson W, Mitra M, Harris JA. Consensus preconception educational domains for people with mobility disabilities: a Delphi study. Women’s Health Issus. 2024 Dec21:S1049-3867(24)00119-1. doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2024.11.001. 
  • Akobirshoev I, Vetter M, Horner-Johnson W, Lomerson N, Moore Simas TA, Mitra M. Severe maternal morbidity by disability status and type in the United States. O&G Open. 2024;1(3):027. https://doi.org/10.1097/og9.0000000000000027
  • Horner-Johnson W, Akobirshoev I, Valentine A, Powell R, Mitra M. Preconception health risks by presence and type of disability among U.S. women. Disability and Health Journal. 2024;17(3):101588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2024.101588
  • Newby-Kew A, Snowden JM, Akobirshoev I, Valentine A, Mitra M, Horner-Johnson W. Pre-pregnancy health risks by presence and extent of disability, 2019-2020. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2024;66(4):655-663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2023.11.022
  • Williams JAR, Royer J, Lauer E, Kurth NK, Horner-Johnson W, McDermott S, Levy A, Hall JP. Injury-related emergency department use among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities insured by Medicaid from 2010-2016. Injury. 2024;30:138-144. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ip-2023-045043
  • Horner-Johnson W, Dissanayake M, Marshall N, Snowden JM. Perinatal health risks and outcomes among U.S. women with self-reported disability, 2011-19. Health Affairs. 2022;41(10):1477-1485. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00497 
  • Horner-Johnson W, Garg B, Darney BG, Biel FM, Caughey AB. Severe maternal morbidity and other perinatal complications among women with physical, sensory, or intellectual and developmental disabilities. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology. 2022;36(5):759-768. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppe.12873
  • Senders A, MgGee MG, Horner-Johnson W. Prevalence and patterns of youth responses to standard disability survey questions. Disability and Health Journal. 2022;15(3):101280 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2022.101280
  • Horner-Johnson W, Linder S, Levy A, Hall J Kurth N, Garcia E, Frame A, Phillips K, Momany E, Lurie M, Shin Y, Lauer E, Kunte P, Silverstein R, Okoro C, McDermott S. Time trends in emergency department use among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Disability and Health Journal. 2022;15(2):101225 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2021.101225
  • Horner-Johnson W, Darney BG, Biel, FM, Caughey AB. Prolonged postpartum length of hospital stay among women with disabilities. Disability and Health Journal. 2020;13(4):100934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2020.100934