James was born on August 8, 1967, in Pond Creek, Oklahoma[1] to a serial entrepreneur mother and wheat farmer father.
[2] While attending Pond Creek-Hunter High School,[2] James convinced her science teacher to create a physiology and anatomy class.
[6] She later found that lupus patients obtained autoantibodies which are typically present in the blood years before the onset of the disease, allowing scientists and doctors to predict early infection.
[9] As a result of her scientific research, James was elected to sit on the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases' Advisory Council.
[10] During the COVID-19 pandemic, James was the recipient of the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation for her contributions to understanding the mechanisms of systemic autoimmune diseases.