Kristina Johnson
Assistant Professor,
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Assistant Professor,
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Contact
- kri.johnson@northeastern.edu
- 360 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115
Research Focus
Intersection of neuroscience, engineering, and autism
Education
- PhD, Media Arts & Sciences (Affective Computing), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2021
Honors & Awards
Research Overview
Intersection of neuroscience, engineering, and autism
Neurodevelopmental Dynamics Lab
The Neurodevelopmental Dynamics (NDD) Lab seeks to revolutionize our understanding of individuals with complex neurodevelopmental differences, including autism, intellectual disabilities, and genetic neurodevelopmental disorders. We conduct multidisciplinary research at the intersection of science, engineering, and real-world impact, working closely with the individuals and families at the heart of our mission.
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- Johnson, K.T., O’Brien, A.M., Kershenbaum, A., Narain, J., Radhakrishnan, S., Picard, R.W. (2022, in press). Affective Ratings of Nonverbal Vocalizations Produced by Minimally-Speaking Individuals: What Do Naive Listeners Perceive?. In press for Proceedings of the International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction (ACII).
- Narain, J., Johnson, K.T., Quatieri, T., Picard R.W., Maes, P. (2022). Modeling Real-World Affective and Communicative Nonverbal Vocalizations from Minimally Speaking Individuals. IEEE Transactions of Affective Computing. https://doi.org/10.1109/TAFFC.2022.3208233
- Narain, J., Johnson, K.T., Quatieri, T., Picard R.W., Maes, P. (2021) Transfer Learning with Real-World Nonverbal Vocalizations from Minimally Speaking Individuals. Workshop in Interpretable ML in Healthcare at International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML).
- Johnson, K.T. & Picard, R.W. (2020). Advancing Neuroscience through Wearable Devices. Neuron 108(1), 8-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.09.030
- Narain, J.* & Johnson, K.T.*, Ferguson, C., O’Brien, A., Talkar, T., Zhang, Y., Wofford, P., Quatieri, T., Maes, P., Picard, R.W. (2020). Personalized Modeling of Real-World Vocalizations from Nonverbal Individuals. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Multimodal Interactions (ICMI). https://doi.org/10.1145/3382507.3418854 (*Co-first authors/equal contribution)
Oct 01, 2025
Embarking on a Career in AI and Machine Learning
Abhishek Uddaraju, MS’25, robotics, is preparing to graduate in December and finish his academic journey at Northeastern. He is excited to apply the knowledge he has gained throughout the robotics program and his innovative research co-op to a long-lasting career in AI and machine learning.
Feb 07, 2025
Spring 2025 PEAK Experiences Awardees for Undergrad Research
Several COE, COS, and Khoury students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of the Spring 2025 PEAK Experiences Awards from Northeastern’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
Oct 09, 2024
Tool To Assess Vocal Communication in Minimally-Speaking Individuals
Kristina Johnson, ECE/Bouvé assistant professor, received a $700,000 NIH Career Development Award for “Using Mobile Technology and Real-World Vocalization Samples To Generate Quantitative Metrics of Vocal Communication for Minimally-Speaking Individuals.”
Apr 22, 2024
Enabling Engineering Students Design Inexpensive Wheelchair Sensor System
Students in Northeastern’s Enabling Engineering class designed a wheelchair rear-sensor system for a resident at The Boston Home, a care center for individuals with progressive neurological conditions. The system met the resident’s needs at a fraction of the cost of a typical wheelchair sensor system.
Aug 18, 2023
New Faculty Spotlight: Kristina Johnson
Kristina Johnson joins the Electrical and Computer Engineering department in August 2023 as an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in Communication Sciences and Disorders.