John O’Shea, M.D.

Dr. O’Shea is a Senior Investigator and Chief of the Molecular Immunology and Inflammation Branch, a position he has held since 2002, where he studies cytokine signaling transduction. He served as the NIAMS Scientific Director of Intramural Research for twenty years, from 2005 until 2025. He also served as the Acting Director of the NIH Center for Regenerative Medicine from 2009-2011 and is an adjunct Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. O’Shea received his M.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and trained in Internal Medicine at the SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. He came to the NIH as a fellow at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and also worked at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He also served as a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service, started his own research group at the National Cancer Institute in 1989, and then moved to NIAMS in 1994 as Chief of the Lymphocyte Cell Biology Section of the Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch. 

Dr. O’Shea is the author of more than 350 publications and has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine. In May 2023, he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences at the conclusion of the Academy's 160th annual meeting.

He has received numerous awards including the:

• NIH Director's Award (six times) 
• U.S. Public Health Service Physician Researcher of the Year Award 
• Irish Immunology Public Lecture Award 
• Arthritis Foundation's Howley Prize 
• Drake Prize 
• Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine 
• Millstein Prize 
• American Association of Immunologists' 2025 Distinguished Fellow Award 
• American Association of Immunologists' AAI-Steinman Award for Human Immunology
• American Society for Clinical Investigation Harrington Prize, and
• NIH Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management’s “Make a Difference” Award.
• Highly Cited Researcher: 2003 - Present