Meet Our Immunology Leadership Team

DAVID M. LEE, M.D., Ph.D.

GLOBAL THERAPEUTIC AREA HEAD
IMMUNOLOGY

David M. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., is Global Immunology Therapeutic Area Head for the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson where he leads a team focused on end-to-end pipeline and a portfolio of treatments for immune-mediated disease. Under his leadership, Immunology researchers are working to build on the success of our current portfolio, which includes STELARA® (ustekinumab) and TREMFYA® (guselkumab).

Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson in September 2018, David was based in Basel, Switzerland, where he served as Global Head, Immunology, Inflammation and Infectious Disease Discovery and Translation Area for Roche, and prior to that, as Global Head of Autoimmunity, Dermatology, and Transplant Translational Medicine at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. In each of these roles, he led on the strategic approaches that fed the companies’ pipelines, prioritized assets, and accelerated their development. His ability to develop external collaborations and lead and develop his teams, was central to his success in each organization.

Before transitioning to the pharmaceutical industry, David was a faculty member at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. While there, his research laboratory focused on disease mechanisms in rheumatology and he was also a practicing rheumatologist. As a precursor to his career in industry, while at Harvard, he also participated in co-founding multiple start-ups. Ultimately, one – a biotech – was acquired by a major pharmaceutical company.

He is an active author and speaker, and has completed more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and more than 100 lectures/seminars.

David earned his undergraduate degree at Stanford University, where he discovered his fascination with the intricacies of the immune system. He subsequently earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in Microbiology/Immunology from the Duke University School of Medicine. His passion for developing new medicines is rooted in his experiences treating patients as a practicing rheumatologist.

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CANDICE LONG

WORLDWIDE VICE PRESIDENT
IMMUNOLOGY

Candice Long is the Worldwide Vice President for the Immunology Therapeutic Area with Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Together with the Immunology Research & Development Therapeutic Area leader, she has end-to-end responsibility for the Janssen Immunology portfolio and pipeline, leading global commercial efforts to build and maximize value in areas of high unmet need.

In her former role as U.S. President, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines (ID&V), Candice was responsible for steering the ID&V business to deliver on near- and long-term growth objectives to advance Janssen’s HIV portfolio, strengthening organizational readiness to introduce vaccines, and leading ongoing efforts to expand the breadth of the business.  

Prior to that role, Candice was Vice President of Marketing for U.S. Immunology. During her time with Immunology, business grew significantly with the successful launch of TREMFYA® (guselkumab) for psoriasis and STELARA® (ustekinumab) for ulcerative colitis, with increased focus on fulfillment through new support services while effectively protecting patients’ ability to maintain success on their STELARA and REMICADE® (infliximab) treatments. Candice began her career at Johnson & Johnson and has held various other roles with increasing responsibilities in the Pharmaceuticals and Consumer sectors.

Passionate about digital innovation and advocacy in healthcare, Candice has also served as the Executive Sponsor of Janssen Cares, the Company’s comprehensive employee giving program. In addition, she served as an Executive Sponsor of the Company’s Employee Resource Group, Open&Out, a global network of LGBTQ+ and Ally individuals who seek to make a difference by creating safe and inclusive workspaces, fostering healthier communities, and empowering employees.

She earned an MBA from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts in History from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

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KATIE ABOUZAHR, M.D.

VICE PRESIDENT
AUTOANTIBODY PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT LEADER
IMMUNOLOGY

Katie Abouzahr, M.D., is Vice President, Autoantibody (AAb) Portfolio Development Leader for the Immunology Therapeutic Area at Janssen Research and Development (R&D), LLC. In this role, Katie leads the development of assets in the AAb pathway portfolio, and is the Compound Development Team Leader (CDTL) for nipocalimab, Janssen’s lead investigative asset to address autoantibody-driven diseases in multiple indications across immunology and neuroscience.

Katie joined Janssen in 2019 as a member of the Global Janssen R&D Strategy and Operations group and served as Vice President, CDTL for STELARA^® (ustekinumab), Janssen’s largest commercialized product, overseeing its development in multiple indications and its lifecycle management strategy.

Prior to her work at Janssen, Katie served as a Principal at the Boston Consulting Group in London and Philadelphia for 12 years, where she worked on a range of engagements across the healthcare sector in the UK and US. Prior to that, she practiced as a Medical Doctor for the National Health Service (NHS) in London.

Katie received her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Pathology at Imperial College in London, and her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) at Imperial College School of Medicine. She earned her Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of the UK in 2006.

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CYNTHIA ACCUOSTI JONES

VICE PRESIDENT
DISEASE AREA COMMERCIAL STRATEGY LEADER
AUTOANTIBODY

Cynthia Accuosti Jones is Vice President, Disease Area Commercial Strategy Leader, Autoantibody for the Immunology Therapeutic Area at Janssen Global Services. In this role, she is responsible for developing and executing the global commercial strategy to support the discovery, development, and launch of new therapies to address autoantibody-driven diseases, with a focus on maximizing the value and patient impact of therapeutic assets across indications spanning from maternal fetal, hematologic and other rare immune-mediated diseases to rheumatology and immunodermatology.

Prior to her current role, Cynthia served as the Director of Marketing for the Prostate Portfolio within Janssen Oncology, responsible for ERLEADA^® (apalutamide) and the launch readiness planning for the niraparib/abiraterone dual-action tablet. Prior to this role, she held multiple positions within the Janssen Oncology marketing team, and since joining Janssen in 2004, has demonstrated a track record of success across Marketing, Account Management, Pricing Strategy, and Finance.

Cynthia holds a B.S. dual degree in Finance & International Business from Georgetown University, and a master’s certificate in Health Policy from Thomas Jefferson University. She is also a Tribute to Women and Industry (TWIN) recipient, and was named a Healthcare Women's Business Association Rising Star in 2015.

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RICHARD APPIAH

VICE PRESIDENT
DISEASE AREA COMMERCIAL LEADER
GASTROENTEROLOGY

Richard Appiah is Vice President, Disease Area Commercial Leader, Gastroenterology for the Immunology Therapeutic Area at Janssen Global Services. In this role, he is responsible for leading the commercial strategy to support the discovery, development, and launch of new therapeutics within the inflammatory bowel disease area.

Prior to this role, Richard served as Senior Director, Franchise Strategy Marketing for the U.S. Cardiovascular & Metabolism organization at Janssen, significantly contributing to growth of the XARELTO® (rivaroxaban) brand. Under his leadership, XARELTO established a first-of-its-kind, direct-to-patient commercial model designed to improve adherence and lower patients’ out-of-pocket cost. Richard joined Johnson & Johnson in 2002 and has held roles of increasing responsibility at Janssen in Oncology, Neuroscience, and Immunology.

Beyond his work at Johnson & Johnson, Richard spent four years at Pfizer in the specialty business unit where he was responsible for payer marketing and contracting strategies for a portfolio of biologic products. 

Richard holds Bachelor and M.S. degrees from Syracuse University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

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PAUL DUNCAN

SENIOR DIRECTOR
EXTERNAL INNOVATION
IMMUNOLOGY

Paul Duncan is Senior Director, External Innovation for the Immunology Global Commercial Strategy Organization of Janssen Global Services. In this role, Paul is responsible for leading the overall external innovation strategy and operations for Janssen Immunology, partnering closely with the Immunology Research & Development and New Business Development teams.

During his tenure with Johnson & Johnson, Paul has made significant contributions across a number of therapeutic areas and brings extensive commercial experience to his role. Prior to his current role, Paul served as the National Sales Director, Rheumatology, where under his leadership, the rheumatology franchise successfully launched SIMPONI ARIA® (golimumab) and STELARA® (ustekinumab), while navigating the challenges of managing a portfolio and accelerating the performance of growth assets in a complex access environment. Paul played a key role in the advancement of the Janssen customer engagement model, integrating real world evidence, quality, and outcomes-based data. In addition, he led the harmonization of the Janssen sales competency model and contributed to the evolution of the strategic talent approach across Janssen North America.

Prior to his leadership in Sales, Paul was a Group Product Director supporting the rheumatology franchise where he led the professional marketing effort. During his tenure, SIMPONI® (golimumab) experienced market leading growth in the anti-TNF category. Additionally, he was Regional Marketing Leader, Asia Pacific within the anti-infective and urology franchises, where he led the successful launch of DORIBAX® (doripenem) in eight countries and PRILIGY (dapoxetine) in two countries. Paul has held positions of increasing responsibility in marketing and has a long track record of success as a sales leader with previous experience as both a District Manager and Region Business Director for Janssen.

Paul earned a B.A. in Chemistry and a B.S. in Biochemistry from North Carolina State University and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

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DAVID GORDON, M.B., CH.B.

Global Head of Clinical Development
Immunology

David Gordon, M.B., Ch.B., is Global Head of Clinical Development for the Immunology Therapeutic Area (TA) at Janssen Research & Development, LLC. In this role, he is responsible for implementing and execution of the Development portfolio for Immunology. He will advance the Immunology strategy to develop new and different mechanisms and treatment modalities to help patients achieve immune homeostasis, and ultimately remission from symptoms, across a breadth of immune-mediated diseases.

Prior to his role at Janssen, David served as Chief Medical Officer at Aclaris Therapeutics. Before that, he spent more than 18 years with GlaxoSmithKline where he held a variety of roles, including Clinical Vice President and Medicine Development Leader for their immuno-inflammation and biopharmaceutical groups, and Senior Vice President and Head of Dermatology Research and Development.

David received his medical degree and Bachelor of Medical Biology from the University of Aberdeen in Aberdeen, U.K., and a Diploma in Anaesthetics from the Faculty of The Royal College of Anaesthetists in London. He is accredited as a specialist in pharmaceutical medicine by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine in London and is a Fellow of the Faculty.

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LLOYD S. MILLER, M.D., PH.D.

VICE PRESIDENT
IMMUNODERMATOLOGY DISEASE AREA LEADER

Lloyd S. Miller, M.D., Ph.D., is Vice President, Immunodermatology Disease Area Leader for the Immunology Therapeutic Area at Janssen Research & Development, LLC. In this role, Lloyd drives the development and implementation of the scientific strategy for immunodermatology to help meet the needs of the millions of patients living with immune-mediated skin diseases.

Prior to Janssen, Lloyd served as Vice Chair for Research in Dermatology within the Department of Dermatology at Johns Hopkins. He was also a Professor of Dermatology, Infectious Diseases, Orthopedic Surgery and Materials Science and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

A known leader in dermatology, Lloyd has published more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, review articles, book chapters and editorials and has given more than 75 oral presentations at national and international scientific programs and meetings. Lloyd has received several grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in addition to private foundation and industry funding for his research.

Lloyd received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. He completed his dermatology residency and post-doctoral research fellowship in the Specialty Training and Advanced Research program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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MICHAEL PLOTNICK, M.D.

VICE PRESIDENT
GLOBAL MEDICAL AFFAIRS
IMMUNOLOGY

Michael Plotnick, M.D. is Vice President, Global Medical Affairs for the Immunology Global Commercial Strategy Organization of Janssen Global Services. In this role, he leads a team of Global Medical Affairs leaders responsible for the clinical-commercial optimization of product development and lifecycle management strategies and plans for both approved products, and products in clinical development for the industry-leading Janssen Immunology portfolio.

Michael joined Janssen in 2004 where he served as the Medical Director for the Dermatology Disease Area supporting the launch of REMICADE® (infliximab) for psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis in the U.S. Most recently, Michael served as the Global Medical Affairs Leader for STELARA® (ustekinumab) and TREMFYA® (guselkumab).

Prior to joining Janssen, Michael served on the medical faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for 11 years. He was an attending physician at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Veterans Administration Hospital and ran a National Institutes of Health-funded laboratory studying the structure-function, kinetics and molecular mechanisms of serine protease inhibitors and their interaction with serine proteases.

Michael earned his M.D. from the New York University School of Medicine in New York City. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, and clinical and research fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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TERENCE ROONEY, M.D.

VICE PRESIDENT
RHEUMATOLOGY AND MATERNAL-FETAL
IMMUNOLOGY DISEASE AREA LEADER

Terence Rooney, M.D., is Vice President, Rheumatology and Maternal-Fetal Immunology Disease Area Leader for the Immunology Therapeutic Area at Janssen Research & Development, LLC. In this role, he is responsible for driving scientific leadership in the rheumatology and maternal-fetal disease area, overseeing innovative compounds across multiple phases of development.

In his prior role at Janssen as Vice President, Immunology Clinical Development, Terence led the Late Development Clinical organization, overseeing all late-stage Immunology clinical trials. Under his leadership, the team delivered many important milestones, and evolved to meet the present and future needs of our growing and complex Immunology portfolio more sustainably. Prior to his time at Janssen, Terence held positions of increasing responsibility in translational/early and late clinical development at Roche and Eli Lilly, respectively.

Terence received his medical degrees from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. During 10 years of academic clinical practice at teaching hospitals in Dublin, he completed postgraduate training in Rheumatology and Internal Medicine. His clinical/translational research fields of interest included rheumatoid arthritis biomarkers for the evolving targeted therapy era, in which he acquired a doctoral degree. He completed a post-fellowship attachment at the University of California San Francisco Division of Rheumatology before transitioning to work full time in pharmaceutical research and development.

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JENNIFER E. TOWNE, PH.D.

VICE PRESIDENT
IMMUNOLOGY DISCOVERY

Jennifer E. Towne, Ph.D. is Vice President, Immunology Discovery at Janssen Research & Development, LLC where she applies her scientific expertise to generate an industry-leading Discovery and Early Development Immunology portfolio. Her oversight spans rheumatology, gastroenterology, and interleukin (IL)-23-related diseases, as well as the scientific pillars of innate and adaptive immunity and tissue mechanisms.

In her previous role at Janssen Research & Development, Jennifer was responsible for Discovery efforts in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on the West Coast and, shortly after, took over global responsibility for IBD Discovery.

Prior to joining Janssen, Jennifer served in various roles at Amgen where she led the development and implementation of Amgen’s IBD research strategy. She has extensive expertise in the IL-23, IL-17, and IL-1 family of proteins and has supervised both large and small molecule programs in both IBD and psoriasis.

Jennifer completed her doctoral degree in the Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at Immunex where she investigated the role of novel IL-1 family members in physiology and pathophysiology.

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GEORGE VRATSANOS, M.D.

VICE PRESIDENT
TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE AND MEDICINE
IMMUNOLOGY

George Vratsanos, M.D. is Vice President, Translational Science and Medicine (TSM) for the Immunology Therapeutic Area at Janssen Research & Development, LLC. In this role, he is responsible for leading the TSM team, integrating closely with both Discovery and Clinical Development, and fostering new ideas and methodologies that deliver on the Janssen portfolio strategy.

In his previous role, George served as Vice President, Head of the Rheumatology/Autoimmunity Disease Area, leading a cross-functional team of experts to prioritize scientific and business strategies with the goal of maintaining industry leadership in rheumatology and aligning with the therapeutic area’s pathways-based approach. Prior to this, George was Head of Early Development, Immunology, where he innovated clinical trial operations and piloted external partnerships with academic networks and clinical research organizations.

Prior to joining Janssen, George served as Executive Global Program Head of the Immunology and Dermatology franchises at Novartis where he supported multiple biologic global submissions. Before that, George led Roche’s clinical development in autoimmune diseases as the Translational Medicine Leader and served as the Group Director at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

A rheumatologist by training, George earned his M.D. from New York University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in rheumatology/immunology at Yale University. In addition, he holds a B.S. and an M.S.in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University.

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JAN WEHKAMP, M.D.

VICE PRESIDENT
GASTROENTEROLOGY DISEASE AREA LEADER

Jan Wehkamp, M.D. is Vice President, Gastroenterology Disease Area Leader for the Immunology Therapeutic Area at Janssen Research & Development, LLC. In this role, he is responsible for driving scientific leadership in gastroenterology for many of Janssen’s active development programs including STELARA® (ustekinumab) and TREMFYA® (guselkumab), as well as many innovative compounds in early development.

Prior to his role at Janssen, Jan served as a Heisenberg Professor of Medicine, teaching innate immunology in inflammation and infection at the University of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In addition, he was the Chief Scientific Officer for Defensin Therapeutics, a Danish biopharmaceutical company he cofounded in 2013, focused on developing and commercializing products for diseases associated with dysregulation of the human microbiota. Defensin Therapeutics’ research was based on more than two decades of expertise from Jan’s laboratory at the University of Tübingen.

Prior to this, Jan worked as a Principal Investigator of Research in Gastroenterology and Pharmacology at the Dr. Margarete-Fischer-Bosch-Institute of Clinical Pharmacology in Germany.

Jan has authored more than 120 publications and key presentations.

He received his M.D. from University of Lübeck in Germany and completed his post-doctoral work in immunology and microbiology at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and University of California in Davis, California.

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