[1] Along with Diane Griffin and others, Clements was one of several trainees of Johnson who went on to notable academic careers at Johns Hopkins.

[1] In 2000, Clements was appointed vice dean for the School of Medicine, taking over the duties of Catherine D. DeAngelis, who had left Johns Hopkins to become the first woman editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Later, it was found that simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) strains from chimpanzee and monkey hosts were the likely progenitors of HIV.

In addition to her work with visna and CAEV, Clements has conducted extensive research into SIV and HIV.

Alongside collaborators including Chris Zink, Joseph L. Mankowski, and Kenneth Witwer, Clements has investigated the innate immune response to retrovirus infection in an animal model of HIV encephalitis.

Garrett herself had stressed the importance of equal opportunity in medical education, specifying that the school must allow women and men alike to seek admission and "prizes, dignities or honor that are awarded by competitive examination, or regarded as rewards of merit.