Rate My Professor James Stark

Professor James Stark is Professor of Medical Humanities in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures at the University of Leeds. He holds an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, an MSc in History of Science, Technology and Medicine from the University of Manchester, and a PhD in History of Medicine from the University of Leeds. Stark joined the University of Leeds in 2008 as a doctoral researcher. He subsequently held an AHRC-funded Knowledge Transfer Fellowship from 2011 to 2012 and a three-year postdoctoral Fellowship associated with the Arts Engaged project. In 2015, he was appointed University Academic Fellow for Medical Humanities, promoted to Associate Professor in 2017, and to Professor in 2020. He served as Head of the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science for the 2019–20 academic year and as Director of the Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute from 2020 to 2023. Since August 2025, Stark has been Head of the Faculty Graduate School and Deputy Pro-Dean for Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures. He chairs the University of Leeds Wellcome Strategy Group and the Digital Library Infrastructure Project Board. He was a visiting researcher at the University of Hong Kong in 2013 and at the University of Sydney in 2014.

Stark's research centers on the history of modern medicine and science, including ageing and fertility, infectious diseases and microbes, medical advertising since 1850, biomedical history, medical technologies, visual and material culture, and the role of patenting in healthcare. Key publications include his monograph The Making of Modern Anthrax, 1875–1920 (2013) and The Cult of Youth: Anti-Ageing in Modern Britain (Cambridge University Press, 2020). He has published essays in Health and History and Notes and Records, articles in Medical History, Social History of Medicine, British Journal for the History of Science, Cultural & Social History, and contributions to The Lancet and The Conversation. Awards include the joint Royal Society Notes and Records Essay Prize (2016), first prize in the World Association for the History of Veterinary Medicine Young Scholars Award Competition (2014), and election as Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (2020). He served as Reviews Editor for the British Journal for the History of Science from 2017 to 2019. Stark has led or co-investigated projects funded by the AHRC, Wellcome Trust, British Academy, and others, collaborating with partners like the Thackray Museum of Medicine, Science Museum, and UK Health Security Agency on topics such as rejuvenation, microbial collections, and public health interventions.