James completed his undergraduate studies in physics at Middlebury College in Vermont. After two years in the physics department at the University of Chicago, he completed his PhD in biophysics at Cornell University’s Weill Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in New York City. Working in the laboratory of Scott Blanchard now at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital James used smFRET imaging to develop a dynamics-based description of translation elongation by the bacterial ribosome. Seeking involvement in infectious diseases research, James joined the laboratory of Walther Mothes at Yale University School of Medicine as a CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellow. While in the Mothes laboratory, James developed an smFRET imaging approach to visualize the dynamics of the HIV envelope glycoprotein on the surface of native virions. He began his independent faculty career in 2014 to leverage to the tools of single-molecule biophysics in infectious diseases research. James is also the founding co-director of the PhD pathway in Biophysics, Chemical and Computational Biology (BCCB) at the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, which aims to recruit students from quantitative sciences into biomedical research.

I am interested in the mechanisms of virus fusion and antibody neutralization. Previously I used traditional virology techniques to study cell infection and antibody neutralization of HIV-1 and Dengue virus. In the Munro lab I am using various biophysical techniques to study how single Ebola virus envelope proteins and individual pseudovirions behave during infection and neutralization. Most of my work is focused on emerging and reemerging human viruses, but I love all RNA viruses equally.

I am a Biochemist and Molecular Virologist with interest in studying cell entry mechanisms of viruses through a combination of biophysical, biochemical and physiological approaches. Currently in the Munro lab, I am studying the molecular dynamics of both HIV and SARS-CoV-2 viral spikes and their role in cell entry. This knowledge is essential for the development of both immunogens to generate effective vaccines and novel therapeutic alternatives to prevent infection and eliminate infected cells.

Jointly advised, with Celia Schiffer, Ph.D.