The UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology welcomed Shanti Alicia James, Ph.D., as an assistant professor in October 2025.
James earned her Bachelor of Science in psychology with a concentration in psychobiology and a minor in chemistry from Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee. She then earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Bowling Green State University and completed an internship and fellowship at UAB.
James shares insights into her diverse background, what inspired her career in psychology, and the innovative goals she’s excited to pursue in her new role.
Can you share your professional background and experiences prior to joining our institution?
James: My clinical training experiences were primarily in regional healthcare settings where I was the only psychology-focused team member among physicians and APPs, but my graduate coursework and research happened in community and social psychology areas. My dissertation project studied connections between political participation and personal health/wellbeing. All of these experiences dovetailed nicely into my role on the team.
What inspired you to pursue a career in this field?
James: Short answer: the outcome of my personal nature and nurture factors. My interests have always leaned towards art, philosophy, and literature, but I come from a very pragmatic medical family. My father was a family physician, and my mother is a nurse. I grew up hanging out in the primary care practice and the hospital doctor’s lounge and was strongly encouraged to join the medical field in some way. Practicing psychology lets me channel my interpersonal and creative instincts for use in medicine.
What is your primary area of expertise within your field, and what sparked your passion for it?
James: I suppose my real expertise is in the process of entering, learning about, and integrating psychological practice in different versions of the medical system. I love witnessing the new ways of thinking and problem-solving that naturally emerge from cross-disciplinary collaboration. Integrated care is very much an experimental, creative process playing out in spaces we don’t typically associate with creativity or expression.
What aspects of your new role here are you most excited about?
James: I am most excited about piloting novel integrated care pathways for our patients and showing students how to use psychological skills to intervene at both system and individual levels.
What are your goals for making an impact through both your teaching and patient care in this role?
James: My goal is to show how versatile the role/function of psychology can be in medicine and train students to own this capacity in their own unique ways. I also want to lower the threshold of access to psychological services so people can learn earlier and better how to care for themselves mentally and physically.