Dr. Priess is also Member of the Basic Sciences Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Affiliate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Washington, Seattle. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Colorado, working with David Hirsh. He then studied as a postdoctoral fellow at the Medical Research Council, Cambridge, England, in the laboratory of John Sulston.

James Priess uses the nematode C. elegans as a model system for studying early embryonic development and germline specification. His recent research focuses on how regulators of cell fate induce distinct patterns of morphogenesis, and how germline-specific cytoplasmic particles called P granules contribute to germ cell development.