Dr. James McCarter has led clinical research and medical affairs for new biosensors at Abbott since 2019. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine.

Previously, he led research and clinical operations for Virta Health, a tech-enabled medical provider. He directed the Virta clinical trial proving diabetes reversal at scale, resulting in changes to the American Diabetes Association 2019 standards of care and creating a paradigm shift in type 2 diabetes treatment.

James was the Founder, President, and Chief Scientific Officer of Divergence, Inc., a front-runner in the application of genomics to infectious disease and agriculture. The Company’s discoveries led to products in crop protection and veterinary diagnostics.

He completed his undergraduate study in biology at Princeton University, his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at Washington University in St. Louis and his post-doctoral training at the Washington University Genome Institute, leading an international sequencing consortium. He is also the author of over 70 scientific publications and patents and the founder of Washington University’s Young Scientist Program which brings high school students from ­disadvantaged backgrounds into scientific careers. 

James lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife, an anesthesiologist and farmer, and two sons. A collegiate rower, his hobbies include quantified-self experiments in nutrition and exercise, along with chores for his wife’s farm.