Skip to content

Honorary Research Associate

BSc (Hons); BComm; PhD

James is a Professor of health psychology at James Cook University, an Adjunct Professor at The University of Western Australia, and an Honorary Research Associate at Telethon Kids Institute. He is a co-director of the award-winning Psychology of Active, Healthy Living (PAHL) group. PAHL is a cross-institutional health psychology group involving James Cook University, the University of Western Australia, and Telethon Kids Institute. In his role in PAHL, James works with researchers, students, industry, government, the non-profit sector, and the media to improve health outcomes in various populations.

PAHL's (and James's) mission is to harness the 'power of people' to promote mental and physical health in people from all walks of life. The group has developed, delivered, and evaluated numerous community programs that have helped thousands of Australians to live happier and healthier lives. Among other things, PAHL has helped people to lose weight, improve their mental health, make better dietary choices, be more physically active, and feel less stressed at work and home.

James has published in excess of 125 articles in peer-reviewed journals, has written or edited dozens of books or book chapters, and has won over $3.5 million in competitive research funding. He has supervised (to completion) in excess of 60 research students, and has won multiple awards for his teaching and student support. James is most interested in translational health psychology, undertaking research at all ends of the bench-to-bedside spectrum with an eye to community impact. In 2019, he was recognised as a University of Western Australia Innovation Fellow due to his--and PAHL's--work on novel community health interventions.

James is a member of the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, a member of the Mental Health & Exercise Research Group, an affiliate member of the Researchers in Behavior Sequence Analysis group, and an international faculty member of the Motivation in Educational Research Laboratory. He is Chair of JCU's Department of Psychology Research Committee and a JCU College of Healthcare Sciences Ethics Advisor. James previously served as an Associate Editor for Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport as well as Psychology of Sport and Exercise. He is currently Deputy Editor at Stress & Health, and serves on the Editorial Boards for International Review of Sport and Exericse Psychology; Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology; and Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology.