James Graham

James Graham is Head of Applications at Portal Biotech, where he leads the biological R&D team taking the company's nanopore platform for single-molecule protein analysis from proof of concept towards commercial reality. He is responsible for applications development, for Portal's key opinion leader and early access engagements, and for disseminating the company's work through publications and white papers.

James read Biochemistry at Oxford and completed his DPhil in David Sherratt's group as a Wellcome Trust student in structural biology, working on chromosome segregation in bacteria. He did his postdoc with Stephen Kowalczykowski at UC Davis, using single-molecule imaging to observe the E. coli replisome directly. He subsequently spent nine years at Oxford Nanopore Technologies, working on sequencing chemistry and targeted sequencing before becoming Director, Protein Sequencing.

His team at Portal works on engineering of sequencing components, sample preparation and assay development, protein identification, the discrimination of closely related isoforms, and the resolution of co-occurring post-translational modifications on individual polypeptides. Recent applications include antibody characterisation and the profiling of modifications on cancer signalling proteins. He works closely with early access users to establish the platform's current utility and its development priorities.