David Geraint James FRCP (2 January 1922 – 20 October 2010) was a Welsh physician who devoted his career to the treatment of sarcoidosis, setting up a specialist clinic for the condition and earning the nickname "King of Sarcoid".

David Geraint James, also known as Gerry,[1] was born on 2 January 1922 in the mining village of Treherbert, Rhondda Fawr Valley, Wales.

His father, local headmaster David James,[2] wrote a regular column in Welsh for The Western Mail, a daily national paper.

[1] In June 1941 at the age of 19, he gained a bachelor's degree with honours in the National Science Tripos of anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry.

[4] In addition, during the Second World War, James served in the Royal Navy working as physician to a small fleet of minesweepers in the English Channel.

He was later involved in setting up the World Association of Sarcoidosis and other Granulomatous Disorders (WASOG) in 1987, in Milan, Italy and became its first president.

[5][7] In 1959, James was appointed consultant physician at London's Royal Northern Hospital and shortly after, began a specialist sarcoidosis clinic, which attracted rheumatologists from around the world.

His registrar at the time, Alimuddin Zumla, later described James as "an excellent teacher...if you listened to his lectures you would never forget them.

[4] In 1965, he represented the Osler Club of London when he was part of the founding committee of the British Society for the History of Medicine, along with William Copeman, Haldane Philp Tait, K. D. Keele, Douglas Guthrie, F. N. L. Poynter, Edwin Sisterton Clarke and Charles Newman.

[12] By 1958, James had written seven papers on sarcoidosis, two being on its effects on eyes, and had published his first book The diagnosis and treatment of infections (1957).

Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders, co-authored with W. Jones, and published by W. B. Saunders, the clinical and diagnostic findings of James's 818 sarcoid patients covering a period of 30 years, are evaluated.