James Clarke (also known as JC) is the Senior Director - Product Science in the Pathogen Project at EIT. He is responsible for developing the instrument and disposables needed to extract DNA or RNA from biological samples and prepare that material for sequencing. The aim of the project is to produce a cost-effective, small-scale device that will make the process of sequencing unknown pathogens as robust and simple as possible. Successful completion of the project will enable wider adoption and scalable deployment of EITs pathogen products and services.

A pragmatic and empirical scientific leader, James enjoys transforming early phase scientific concepts into disruptive products. James was one of the first scientists to join Oxford Nanopore Technologies, after finishing a post-doc at Oxford with the company’s scientific founder, Prof. Hagan Bayley. His group was the first team in the world to sequence DNA using a nanopore in early 2011. During James’ 18 years at Oxford Nanopore, he contributed to many projects in R&D and led the Research Division for over a decade, before becoming VP Platform Technology where he oversaw the development of the platform through to manufacturing.

James has a MSci in Chemistry and a PhD in membrane biophysics from Imperial College London. He has led multi-disciplinary teams in a wide range of scientific fields including single-molecule sensing, MEMs fabrication, electrochemistry, surface science, enzyme engineering, biosensors, machine learning, and DNA synthesis.

James enjoys cycling, resistance training, swimming, trips to Cornwall, and building Star Wars Lego with his two children.

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