James Mortimer is an Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of South Florida. He is the author or editor of 6 books and more than 160 refereed journal publications.

Dr Mortimer was the Co-Principal Investigator of the Nun Study, a landmark research study focused on Alzheimer’s disease and investigator and consultant on many other global studies related to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. In 1983, he was the first to report a link between severe head injury and an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease. His more recent research addresses the early detection and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.

In 1994, Dr Mortimer was the Executive Convener of the Fourth International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease.

Dr Mortimer has served as chair of the Mental Disorders of Aging Review Group of the NIH and as a member of the Policy Advisory Committee of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging and the Honolulu Heart Program Policy Board.

Dr Mortimer received his doctorate from the University of Michigan in 1970 and was a Staff Fellow at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland from 1970 to 1973, before moving to the University of Minnesota where he spent 20 years as the director of an Alzheimer’s disease research program. In January 1996, he moved to the University of South Florida to become the Director of the Institute on Aging. He currently resides in Carlsbad, California