Professor James Best MBBS, MD, FRACP, FRCPath, FRCP Edin

James Best has had a long association with the University of Melbourne, graduating in the Faculty of Medicine in 1972. He trained in Endocrinology at St Vincent's Hospital and in diabetes research at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA . Having worked as an Endocrinologist at St Vincent's from 1982 to 1989, he joined the University of Melbourne staff as Deputy Head of the Department of Medicine ( St Vincent 's Hospital) and in 1999 was appointed as Professor of Medicine and Head of Department. He has also been Deputy Dean of the Faculty from 2004 to 2006 and subsequently Associate Dean (Resources).

Jim has taught extensively during his career, especially on the topic of diabetes and metabolism, as well as on the medical interview.  He was actively involved in development of the current MBBS curriculum, particularly the subject "Nutrition, Digestion and Metabolism". His research has involved physiological and molecular studies of glucose disposal, as well as studies of lipid biochemistry and epidemiological and clinical studies of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in diabetes. He is CIA for the NHMRC Centre of Clinical Research Excellence in Clinical Science in Diabetes.

Jim has been on the Board of Directors of three different Health Services and a Medical Defence Organisation. In 2006 he was appointed to the Council of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and as Chair of the NHMRC Research Committee.