Researcher biography

James leads the Child and Youth Research Group at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research and the Youth Mental Health Research Group at the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research. He also practices clinically as a Child and Youth Psychiatrist with the Metro North Mental Health Service, where he is the Director of the Early Psychosis Service. James is the recipient of a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Practitioner Fellowship (2016-2020), awarded for his research into prevention and intervention strategies to improve the mental health of adolescents.

James has established a programme of research developing preventative strategies and cost-effective real-world interventions for mental illness in children and youth. His research incorporates studies in epidemiology, clinical trials, bullying and psychiatric neuro-immunology. He is the elected chair of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Section for Youth Mental Health and an editor of the Journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. In 2018, he was awarded the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists' Senior Research Award, conferred on the "Fellow who has made the most significant contribution to psychiatric research in Australia and New Zealand over the preceding five years".