Jim McCarter

Entrepreneur

I want to change the world.

James McCarter, MD, PhD

Dr. James McCarter is the Head of Research for San Francisco-based Virta Health, a tech-enabled nationwide medical provider that delivers the first clinically-proven treatment to safely and sustainably reverse type 2 diabetes without medications or surgery. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Genetics at Washington University (WU) School of Medicine in St. Louis and an Entrepreneur in Residence at the venture fund BioGenerator. Previously, Dr. McCarter was the Founder, President, and Chief Scientific Officer of Divergence, Inc., a frontrunner in the application of genomics to infectious disease and agriculture. The Company’s numerous discoveries led to products in veterinary therapeutics and diagnostics and agrochemistry. Divergence was acquired by Monsanto where he was an executive in chemistry technology and with the Company’s venture arm, Monsanto Growth Ventures. Dr. McCarter completed his A.B. in biology at Princeton University, his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at WU and his post-doctoral training at the WU Genome Institute, leading an international genome sequencing consortium. He is the founder of WU’s Young Scientist Program and has served on the University’s National Council for the School of Medicine and National Research Advisory Council. He is an author of over 60 scientific publications and patents. Dr. McCarter is a recipient of the Innovation Award from the Academy of Science of St. Louis and a Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.