JAMES M. MARKERT, JR. was born in San Mateo, California, the only son in a family of three children. His parents, Jim Sr. and Barbara, met at Harvard University when pursuing graduate work in Business Administration. Dr. Markert received an A.B. degree cum laude in Chemical Sciences from Harvard University, where he also pursued graduate studies in applied mathematics. He then obtained his M.D. degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1988 with a simultaneous award of a Masters in Public Health, also from Columbia University. He performed his general surgery internship, as well as his neurological surgery residency, at the University of Michigan Medical Center under Dr. Julian “Buz” Hoff during the period of 1988 to 1995.

During his residency, he spent 18 months in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Martuza at Massachusetts General Hospital studying the potential application of herpes simplex virus as a treatment for malignant glioma. He then returned to the University of Michigan where he completed his Chief Residency in 1995. Upon completion of his residency, he became a faculty member of the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Immediately after joining the faculty, he completed an additional research program under Dr. Bernard Roizman at the University of Chicago in the area of molecular herpes virology. In April of 1996, he returned to UAB as an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery. There, under the mentorship of Dr. Richard B. Morawetz, he prospered in the area of neuro-oncologic surgery and rose through the ranks. In 2006, he was appointed Director of the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has been fortunate to work with an extremely talented and congenial group of faculty and residents. Dr. Markert’s research interests center around novel therapies for the treatment of malignant glioma, and translating findings from the laboratory into the clinical arena. His particular interest developed during his research periods with Dr. Martuza and then later with Dr. Roizman in the area of herpes simplex virus in oncolytic and gene therapy vectors for the treatment of malignant brain tumors.

He has been an active participant in program project grants centered at both the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Chicago under the directorship of Dr. Richard Whitley, which has resulted in several new findings in this arena and has been Co-Director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Brain Tumor SPORE along with Dr. Yancey Gillespie. In 2022, Dr. Markert was elected to the National Academy of Medicine for his work with oncolytic virotherapy and malignant glioma.

Dr. Markert and his wife Laili are active members of the Baha’i Faith in Birmingham where they are fortunate to have a busy and full life with four children.