The 2026 University of New Mexico McNair Scholars Research Conference

Amanda Marie James, PhD
Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Dean, Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement,
James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies at Emory University
Faculty, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences at Emory University
Amanda Marie James, PhD received her BS in Biochemistry from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA, and her PhD in Clinical Pharmacology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has been both formally and informally trained in diversity and inclusion work. As a mentor, a course facilitator, and a diversity outreach advocate and coordinator, Dr. James is dedicated to organizing networks of diverse scholars by discipline, socioeconomic class, ethnic and racial background and has initiated campus-wide conversations about how an effective and supportive community is essential for their success. Currently, Dr. James serves as the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer and Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement at the Laney Graduate School at Emory University. She is charged with creating and strengthening an inclusive, respectful, and intellectually challenging environment for all doctoral and academic masters’ scholars. Dr. James also maintains an academic and research presence.
Her traditional scientific training is in clinical technology (pharmacological and application-based) and biomedical engineering, with specific training and expertise in the detection of clinical samples and method development. Her current research interests focus on the frequency/abundance of coronary atherosclerotic isomiRs, (isoforms of microRNA) and their correlation to clinically relevant outcomes based on race and co-morbidities of coronary atherosclerosis.
The skills she learned as a translational scientist have been applicable to her role as an administrator. Her familiarity with the journey has helped facilitate the acclimation of diverse scholars and their navigation of a large university and global city. Dr. James also works with big data sets both in her laboratory work and her role as LGS CDO and has honed the analytical skills needed to analyze clinical outcomes and educational progress. Coupled with these experiences, Dr. James has also been both the recipient of and facilitator of many diversity and inclusion workshops, seminars, and programs.
Taking responsibility for inclusive outreach and ensuring environments where all can do their best work is essential to achieving the educational benefits of diversity. Education is transformative, and to quote, Marian Wright Edelman, “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and the world better than you found it.”