Judith A. James, MD, PhD

Judith A. James, M.D., Ph.D., is the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Chair and Professor of the Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Program and holds the Lou Kerr Chair in Biomedical Research.  Dr. James is also the Associate Vice Provost for Clinical and Translational Science and Professor of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. In these roles, her mission is to build a continuum connecting basic mechanistic studies, clinical research, industry collaborations, and clinical care. She also follows this model in her own research. Dr. James and her research group focus on understanding the causes and mechanisms of autoimmune disease onset, the evolution of autoantibodies, and the interplay of genes and environment in systemic autoimmunity. Judith has made seminal contributions in these areas, and she has published more than 380 manuscripts. Her achievements have been recognized with prestigious awards including the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Outstanding Basic/Translational Scientist Award and Dubois' Award from the American College of Rheumatology and the Evelyn M. Hess Award from the Lupus Foundation of America. She is also an elected member of the American Association of Physicians and National Academy of Medicine. Judith serves as the principal investigator for numerous NIH grants. She practices medicine as a board-certified adult rheumatologist, focusing on SLE, incomplete lupus, and related diseases.