The Ellison Medical Foundation Welcomes Stephanie L. James, Ph.D. as Deputy Director
The Ellison Medical Foundation is pleased to welcome Stephanie L. James, Ph.D. as its Deputy Director. Dr. James directs the
Global Infectious Disease program, established in 2001 to enhance innovative research on parasitic and infectious diseases of major
global public health importance. Prior to joining the Ellison Medical Foundation, she served for eleven years as Chief of the
Parasitology and International Programs Branch, Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, NIH.
Dr. James received her Ph.D. from the Department of Microbiology at Vanderbilt University, and conducted her dissertation research
in the area of immunoparasitology. She continued post-doctoral studies first in the Department of Medicine at Harvard and later in
the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, NIAID. She subsequently established a research laboratory in the Departments of Medicine and
Microbiology at the George Washington University Medical Center, where she pursued studies on schistosomiasis and macrophage
biology under funding from the NIAID, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the World
Health Organization. In 1987, Dr. James returned to the extramural component of NIAID as Parasitology Program Officer, and
became Branch Chief in 1991. She maintained an affiliation with the NIAID intramural Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, where she
continued research on protective immunity against schistosomiasis and other parasitic diseases. During that time, she also acted as
Coordinator of the Microbiology Program, and as Deputy Director of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
At NIAID, Dr. James was responsible for programmatic development of the International Centers for Tropical Disease Research
network, the Tropical Medicine Research Centers, and the International Centers for Excellence in Research. She co-authored the
NIAID Research Plan for Malaria Vaccine Development, and created many of its component research initiatives. She was also
involved in the formation of the international Multilateral Initiative on Malaria, and participated in its Task Force for Research
Capability Strengthening in Africa. She received the NIH Director’s Award in 1993 for leadership in establishing the International
Centers for Tropical Disease Research, and in 1999 for leadership in advancing collaborative malaria research through the Multilateral
Initiative on Malaria. She participated in a number of trans-governmental and international activities on emerging infectious diseases,
contributing to the 1995 CISET report “Infectious Disease-A Global Threat”, the 1996 “NIAID Research Agenda for Emerging
Infectious Diseases”, the “Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health” section of the 2000 NIAID Strategic Plan, and the 2001
“NIAID Global Health Research Plan for HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis.” She has served on advisory committees for the
World Health Organization, the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, among others. In
1998, she was elected President of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
