Professor James Ward is a Pitjantjatjara and Narungga man, and Director of the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health at The University of Queensland, a centre focused on Indigenous health research and home to around 60 staff and 20 PhD students.

He is an infectious diseases epidemiologist and a national leader in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research. With over 25 years of experience, Professor Ward has served on numerous national and international committees including the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia, the Australian National Council on Alcohol and Drugs, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Protection Sub-Committee and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander COVID-19 Taskforce.

He has published more than 180 peer reviewed papers, currently leads several large-scale public health and infectious disease studies and has an emerging program centred on the health and wellbeing of urban Indigenous Peoples.