James was born and spent his childhood in Auckland. He received a generous surgeon scientist scholarship from the Passe & Williams Foundation, and began his doctoral research in 2016. Over the next three years, he investigated the role of the tonsillar microbiome in the pathogenesis of adenotonsillar hyperplasia. He successfully defended his PhD thesis in 2019. He completed his surgical training in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and was admitted as a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2023. He received an academic surgeon-scientist fellowship from the Passe & Williams Foundation. With the foundations support he completed a paediatric airway fellowship at the prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. He is currently the Sydney international laryngology fellow based at the University of Sydney. He will return to Auckland and endeavour to help build an active academic centre in paediatric Otolaryngology at Starship Children’s Hospital. He is of Māori descent and has a fundamental commitment to this area of research.