fellows forward
Catching Up with Rick Nettles ('04)
Current Chief Scientific Officer for Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, Nettles built his career from a solid foundation of mentorship and experiences gained during his infectious diseases fellowship
Dr. Rick Nettles
Published in
IDeas Magazine -
Winter 2026
In the two decades since completing his fellowship in infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins, Rick Nettles ’04 has built a career on the solid foundation of skills and specialized knowledge he received during his time in Baltimore. We recently caught up with Nettles for a conversation about his fellowship experience and career path since graduation.
Training in the ID fellowship program from 2001 to 2004 was a singular moment in history to be studying infectious diseases. “The clinical year was unique in that there were the 9/11 attacks, anthrax mailings, and SARS in Toronto and globally, which positioned infectious diseases specialists as critical in responding to crisis situations,” he says.
The early part of the 21st century was also significant in the timeline of the HIV epidemic in the United States. “I fondly remember seeing patients in the Moore Clinic with Adriana Andrade and Cindy Sears, learning the basics of caring for people living with HIV,” Nettles says.
Clinical rounds with infectious diseases legend John Bartlett were a distinct privilege.
“Hearing him think through basic infectious diseases consults, like MRSA bacteremia or persistent C. difficile diarrhea, was so special. The stories and history that he shared were priceless. I wish I could have recorded those discussions,” Nettles says.
He recalls a time he was sure he would get the best of Paul Auwaerter, renowned for his diagnostic acumen. “I remember presenting a case of tularemia in a man who mowed grass along the highway, thinking that I could stump Paul,” Nettles says. “He made the diagnosis within minutes.”
On the camaraderie among trainees, he remembers “exhaustedly passing the antibiotic approval pager to my co-fellows like Anthony Ogedegbe, Joel Blankson and Lisa Maragakis after a weekend of coverage, hoping that I had made the correct recommendations.”
Nettles credits his attending shifts in the HIV clinic and rounding on the HIV wards with helping him develop a patient-centered approach to medicine that has carried through his career. Seeing the incredibly positive impact new medicines were having on patients living with HIV, who had very few effective treatment options due to HIV drug resistance, piqued his interest in research and drug development.
That interest expanded in Robert Siliciano’s lab, working to understand the clinical implications of low levels of HIV viremia. “Bob was a brilliant scientist who highly valued time with his family. I could not have had a better mentor,” says Nettles, whose first son was born at St. Agnes Hospital during his fellowship.
Nettles notes the importance of close collaboration in the lab with Tara Kieffer, Debbie Persaud and co-fellow Joel Blankson, with support from Janet Siliciano, Joel Gallant, Joe Cofrancesco and Stuart Ray. “Working among passionate and brilliant scientists who always willingly shared knowledge and time to solve big problems together was such an important experience,” he says.
Following his fellowship, Nettles joined the faculty in the Division of Infectious Diseases as an assistant professor, backed by a K08 award. Building on his time in the Siliciano lab, Nettles’ early-career work focused on basic scientific research on HIV resistance during periods of low-level and rapidly decreasing viral loads. The project aimed to develop better methods for monitoring HIV-1 resistance to antiretroviral therapy using novel ultra-sensitive genotypes.
“I loved being part of research, and I was curious what role I could play in larger-size clinical trials,” he explains.
After leaving Johns Hopkins, Nettles spent roughly six years in research and development at Bristol Myers Squibb, working on emerging therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis. His journey continued at Johnson & Johnson, where he led the US Medical Affairs team for infectious diseases and vaccines for a decade before becoming the global head of early development, infectious diseases and vaccines. In that role, Nettles’ teams worked on medications for HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis as well as development of a COVID vaccine.
Currently, Nettles is the chief scientific officer for Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine in the United States. He leads a team of more than 200 people responsible for finding innovative solutions to some of today’s most pressing patient needs.
“My days are full of meetings where I lead a group of passionate individuals who are trying to be sure the medicines we develop are safe and available for patients,” Nettles explains. “We do this through a variety of ways, such as conducting REMS [Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies] programs, providing medical information, conducting real-world evidence trials, and trying to understand how AI can help us do better at educating about our medicines.”
Training in the ID fellowship program from 2001 to 2004 was a singular moment in history to be studying infectious diseases. “The clinical year was unique in that there were the 9/11 attacks, anthrax mailings, and SARS in Toronto and globally, which positioned infectious diseases specialists as critical in responding to crisis situations,” he says.
The early part of the 21st century was also significant in the timeline of the HIV epidemic in the United States. “I fondly remember seeing patients in the Moore Clinic with Adriana Andrade and Cindy Sears, learning the basics of caring for people living with HIV,” Nettles says.
Clinical rounds with infectious diseases legend John Bartlett were a distinct privilege.
“Hearing him think through basic infectious diseases consults, like MRSA bacteremia or persistent C. difficile diarrhea, was so special. The stories and history that he shared were priceless. I wish I could have recorded those discussions,” Nettles says.
He recalls a time he was sure he would get the best of Paul Auwaerter, renowned for his diagnostic acumen. “I remember presenting a case of tularemia in a man who mowed grass along the highway, thinking that I could stump Paul,” Nettles says. “He made the diagnosis within minutes.”
On the camaraderie among trainees, he remembers “exhaustedly passing the antibiotic approval pager to my co-fellows like Anthony Ogedegbe, Joel Blankson and Lisa Maragakis after a weekend of coverage, hoping that I had made the correct recommendations.”
Nettles credits his attending shifts in the HIV clinic and rounding on the HIV wards with helping him develop a patient-centered approach to medicine that has carried through his career. Seeing the incredibly positive impact new medicines were having on patients living with HIV, who had very few effective treatment options due to HIV drug resistance, piqued his interest in research and drug development.
That interest expanded in Robert Siliciano’s lab, working to understand the clinical implications of low levels of HIV viremia. “Bob was a brilliant scientist who highly valued time with his family. I could not have had a better mentor,” says Nettles, whose first son was born at St. Agnes Hospital during his fellowship.
Nettles notes the importance of close collaboration in the lab with Tara Kieffer, Debbie Persaud and co-fellow Joel Blankson, with support from Janet Siliciano, Joel Gallant, Joe Cofrancesco and Stuart Ray. “Working among passionate and brilliant scientists who always willingly shared knowledge and time to solve big problems together was such an important experience,” he says.
Following his fellowship, Nettles joined the faculty in the Division of Infectious Diseases as an assistant professor, backed by a K08 award. Building on his time in the Siliciano lab, Nettles’ early-career work focused on basic scientific research on HIV resistance during periods of low-level and rapidly decreasing viral loads. The project aimed to develop better methods for monitoring HIV-1 resistance to antiretroviral therapy using novel ultra-sensitive genotypes.
“I loved being part of research, and I was curious what role I could play in larger-size clinical trials,” he explains.
After leaving Johns Hopkins, Nettles spent roughly six years in research and development at Bristol Myers Squibb, working on emerging therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis. His journey continued at Johnson & Johnson, where he led the US Medical Affairs team for infectious diseases and vaccines for a decade before becoming the global head of early development, infectious diseases and vaccines. In that role, Nettles’ teams worked on medications for HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis as well as development of a COVID vaccine.
Currently, Nettles is the chief scientific officer for Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine in the United States. He leads a team of more than 200 people responsible for finding innovative solutions to some of today’s most pressing patient needs.
“My days are full of meetings where I lead a group of passionate individuals who are trying to be sure the medicines we develop are safe and available for patients,” Nettles explains. “We do this through a variety of ways, such as conducting REMS [Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies] programs, providing medical information, conducting real-world evidence trials, and trying to understand how AI can help us do better at educating about our medicines.”