James is a lecturer in biology and biomedical science in the School of Life and Health Sciences at Aston University, UK and a Trustee of the British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA), the oldest biogerontology research society in the world. Having graduated with a PhD in 2006 based on the role of fat-secreted hormones in pancreatic function James has worked built continued to work in the related field of body fat, both in terms of basic and clinical science, and how excess adiposity affects health and disease.