A native of Jackson, TN, Dustin James received his bachelor’s degree in Forensic Anthropology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where he spent time researching forensic criminal investigation methodology. He then received his master’s degree from University of Memphis in Medical Anthropology.
While completing his graduate studies Dustin worked in East Africa on a NIH funded project focusing on health care and HIV/AIDS treatment access in Uganda. After completing his master’s degree, he took an adjunct faculty position with Christian Brothers University where he created a minor program in Public Health. He also began working as coordinator for the NIH Minority Health International Research Training Program where they provided international research training opportunities for minority students at their research sites in South America, East Africa, East Asia, and the Caribbean.
Dustin also conducted his own investigator-initiated research in rural East Uganda examining access to health care and community perception of health care infrastructure. This led him to return to Memphis and serve as Executive Director for the Mid South AIDS Fund, a non-profit organization focused on HIV prevention.
He came to St. Jude in 2013 as a Clinical Research Associate in Hematology where he served as Study Coordinator for pharmaceutical and St. Jude initiated studies around issues of Sickle Cell Disease, Hemophilia, and Clotting disorders.