The Director of Garvan’s Diabetes and Obesity Research Program, Professor David James, has been elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in recognition of his outstanding contributions to science.

“This is a great honour,” said Professor James. “I’m also very pleased and proud for the Institute, and the wider St. Vincent’s campus, as two other campus researchers were also elected to the Academy this year.”

Professor James has been recognised for the seminal contributions he has made to the understanding of insulin action and diabetes. He discovered the insulin regulatable glucose transporter GLUT4, the key molecule which transports sugar from the blood stream into muscle and fat cells, and identified the key steps in the insulin regulation of glucose transport which are now major therapeutic targets in diabetes.

He performed pioneering work in fuel metabolism including elucidation of novel mechanisms for regulating energy expenditure which have become new areas for obesity research. As an international leader in cell biology research, Professor James has contributed in a major way to the development of this discipline in Australia.