James Priest
About James Priest
James Priest serves as the Senior Director of Cardiovascular Genetics at Tenaya Therapeutics, where he leads a team focused on target discovery and validation in cardiomyopathy. He has a strong academic background and extensive experience in pediatric cardiology, genetics, and therapeutic development.
Work at Tenaya Therapeutics
James Priest serves as the Senior Director of Cardiovascular Genetics at Tenaya Therapeutics, a position he has held since 2021. In this role, he provides genetic insight into clinical development strategies for multiple active clinical programs. He leads a hybrid team of dry-lab and wet-lab scientists focused on target discovery and validation, utilizing human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) models of cardiomyopathy. His work contributes to advancing therapeutic approaches in cardiovascular genetics.
Education and Expertise
James Priest has an extensive educational background in medicine and genetics. He earned his Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Stanford University School of Medicine, where he studied from 2004 to 2008. Prior to that, he obtained a Master of Arts (MA) in Genetics from the University of California, Berkeley, from 2001 to 2004. He also holds a Bachelor of Music (B.Mus) and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Oberlin College, where he studied French Horn Performance, Biology, and Chemistry from 1996 to 2001. His expertise spans epidemiology, statistical genetics, machine learning, molecular biology, pediatrics, cardiology, and genetic medicine.
Background
James Priest has a diverse professional background in pediatric cardiology and genetics. He began his medical training as a Resident in Pediatrics at Seattle Children's Hospital from 2008 to 2011. He then completed a Fellowship in Pediatric Cardiology at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital from 2011 to 2015. Following his fellowship, he served as an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Cardiology at Stanford University School of Medicine from 2017 to 2020 and as an Instructor in Pediatric Cardiology from 2016 to 2017. He has also worked as a Medical Director at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. and as an Investigator at Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.
Achievements
James Priest holds multiple patents related to translating genetic discoveries into clinically actionable diagnoses and novel therapeutic approaches. He has been recognized in the international press for his contributions to human genetics and therapeutic development. His work has significantly impacted the field, particularly in the context of cardiovascular genetics and clinical applications.