A short interview with the Councillor for External Relationships: Prof. Christopher James

Prof Christopher James received the B.Elec.Eng. (Hons) degree from the University of Malta (1992) and a Ph.D from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand (1997). He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the EEG department of the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University, Montreal - Canada (1997-1998), a postdoctoral research fellow (1998-2001), and then Lecturer (2001-2003) with the Neural Computing Research Group of Aston University, Birmingham, UK. From 2004-2010 he was a Lecturer and then Reader in Biomedical Signal Processing at the University of Southampton, UK. He now has a chair in Healthcare Technology at the University of Warwick, UK and is Director of the Institute of Digital Healthcare. 

He has also been very active in the international scene: he is the current Chair of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) UK & Republic of Ireland (UKRI) Section (~11,000 members), Chair of the IEEE UKRI Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBS) Chapter, and a member of the IEEE EMBS Administrative Committee (ADCOM) as Europe Representative. He is a past chairman of the Institute of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Healthcare Technology executive committee. Prof James is a Senior Member of IEEE, a Fellow of the IET and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. 

• When did you start to first get involved with the Alliance activities and what were the reasons for your interest?

I had known about the Alliance from a while since EAMBES activities were regularly reported at IEEE EMBS ADCOM, and I considered the idea of having an Alliance of the interested parties in BME in Europe as very important because Europe has a lot to offer the profession. I then got interested in knowing further about the Alliance and its constitution.

•  Why did you nominate yourself for the General Council election?

I have served on quite a few national and international committees related to the BME profession, most if not all dedicated to furthering the profession and to gaining recognition of the profession by the various sectors that BME impacts upon. Being a highly interdisciplinary area it is imperative to get “joined-up thinking” with our colleagues the clinicians, as well as the relevant industries – not to mention R&D funding agencies and governments. I saw the opportunity to serve on the council as an extension to this work within the very important European area.  

• How do you plan to contribute to the Alliance during your mandate? What are your personal strengths the Alliance can benefit from?

As councillor for external relationships it is my intention to contribute through making sure that the EAMBES is well connected and well understood within the wider BME community. I believe that EAMBES has a lot to offer to each of the member organisations and to the BME profession in general and I see it as my role to help establish new connections and strengthen connections that already exist. Through my many interactions across different BME organisations across the globe I think that I can bring some new insights into the connections EAMBES has made and continues to make.

•  Could you explain why you believe it is important for a large organisation such IEEE  EMBS Europe to be a member of EAMBES?

The IEEE EMBS is an organisation that brings together a great number of engineers and scientists working in the Biomedical Engineering field. It crosses boundaries, allowing engineers, scientists and clinicians to interact, as well as geographic boundaries bringing people together across the globe. European BME activity is quite prominent and relevant on the world stage,  and so it is important for organisations such as IEEE EMBS to have a voice within the European sphere. 

• What do you think are the main achievements of the Alliance since the new Council has been elected?

The Alliance has been working solidly towards strengthening its base within its member organisations and in introducing new initiatives to better serve its members. Key is the work in raising the BME profile within EU parliamentary circles. 

• What are the goals EAMBES should look towards in the near future? 

Increasing its representation with member organisation, keeping up the lobbying activity with the EU parliament and keep promoting the BME profession in all means possible.