Joyce James, PhD, Corvid LLC

Dr. Joyce James is a distinguished pharmaceutical leader with more than 20 years of experience advancing therapeutics from discovery through early clinical development. An expert in early development and clinical pharmacology, she brings deep expertise in nonclinical studies, early-phase clinical trials, and bioanalytical and pharmacodynamic strategies that support drug development across all stages.

Dr. James is the Founder of Corvid LLC, a consulting firm specializing in early development and clinical pharmacology. She has held senior leadership roles including Vice President of Early Development at Odonate Therapeutics and Vice President of Clinical Pharmacology & Early Development at Lyric Pharmaceuticals, where she was a founding core team member and helped secure Series A financing.

Previously, she served as Senior Director and Head of Drug Metabolism & Pharmacokinetics and Analytical Chemistry at Cytokinetics. At Ambit Biosciences, she contributed to the discovery and development of quizartinib (approved as Vanflyta) for FLT3-ITD positive acute myelogenous leukemia. She began her industry career as a Research Fellow at Merck Research Laboratories.

Dr. James holds a Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Biochemistry from the College of Charleston. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and serves as a guest lecturer for the Georgetown–Harvard University online Drug Development Course.