CV | James Valcourt

Summary

Interdisciplinary researcher in computational drug discovery, combining physics-based simulation, machine learning, and AI agents with hands-on work at every stage of small-molecule programs, from inception through IND. Earlier work spans molecular dynamics of GPCRs and antibodies, stem cell fate control, and writing about biology for general audiences.

Experience

D. E. Shaw Research

2020 – present

Drug Discovery Scientist (Senior Member of the Technical Staff) · New York, NY

Carry several small-molecule programs at a time, each with one or two other scientists, from target assessment and hit finding through lead optimization, candidate selection, and IND-enabling studies.
Work across structural rationale, medicinal chemistry strategy, DMPK, and preclinical development rather than within a single function.
Apply long-timescale molecular dynamics, free energy perturbation, virtual screening and docking, machine learning, and LLM-based agents to targets and binding modes that conventional approaches have not cracked.
Design and direct in vitro and in vivo work at CRO partners to test computational predictions and close the design–make–test cycle.
Served as internal lead for one of several programs run in collaboration with Relay Therapeutics.

D. E. Shaw Research

2012 – 2014

Scientific Associate · New York, NY

Conducted basic research using long-timescale molecular dynamics simulations of pharmaceutically relevant biological systems.
Focused on the mechanisms of allosteric modulation in GPCRs and on the structural basis of neutralization breadth in HIV antibodies.

Education

Harvard University

2020

Ph.D. in Systems, Synthetic, and Quantitative Biology · Cambridge, MA

Advisor: Sharad Ramanathan. Dissertation: Predicting and controlling mesendoderm competence in human embryonic stem cells.
Discovered and manipulated novel modes of cell state control with applications in regenerative medicine and developmental biology.

Princeton University

2012

A.B. in Molecular Biology, magna cum laude · Princeton, NJ

Certificate in Quantitative and Computational Biology.

Publications

Academic

Valcourt, J. R., Huang, R. E., Kundu, S., Venkatasubramanian, D., Kingston, R. E., & Ramanathan, S. (2021). Modulating mesendoderm competence during human germ layer differentiation. Cell Reports, 37(6), 109990. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109990
Bokoch, M. P., Jo, H. I., Valcourt, J. R., Srinivasan, Y., Pan, A. C., Capponi, S., Grabe, M., Dror, R. O., Shaw, D. E., DeGrado, W. F., & Coughlin, S. R. (2018). Entry from the lipid bilayer: a possible pathway for inhibition of a peptide G protein-coupled receptor by a lipophilic small molecule. Biochemistry, 57(39), 5748–5758.
Dror, R. O., Green, H. F., Valant, C., Borhani, D. W., Valcourt, J. R., Pan, A. C., … Shaw, D. E. (2013). Structural basis for modulation of a G-protein-coupled receptor by allosteric drugs. Nature, 503(7475), 295–299.
Valcourt, J. R., Lemons, J. M. S., Haley, E. M., Kojima, M., Demuren, O. O., & Coller, H. A. (2012). Staying alive: metabolic adaptations to quiescence. Cell Cycle, 11(9), 1680–1696.

Trade

Valcourt, J. R. (2017). Systematic: How Systems Biology is Transforming Modern Medicine. New York: Bloomsbury.

Awards and Distinctions

2020Harvard Horizons Scholar, Harvard University (talk)
2019Peralta Award, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University
2019Quantitative Biology Fellowship, NSF-Simons Center for the Mathematical & Statistical Analysis of Biology at Harvard University
2014National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (declined)
2014National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
2012Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship
2012Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize, the highest general distinction conferred on an undergraduate by Princeton University
2012Phi Beta Kappa
2012Society of Sigma Xi
2011Alberto Santos-Dumont Prize for Innovation, Princeton University (accepted on behalf of The Princeton Tiger Magazine)
2009Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence, Princeton University

Technical Skills

Dry lab: Molecular dynamics; free energy perturbation; virtual screening and docking; machine learning; LLM-based agents; numerical modeling; analysis of RNA/ATAC/ChIP-seq and genomic data, both bulk and single-cell; image analysis; statistical methods.
Wet lab: RNA/ATAC/ChIP-seq, quantitative live cell microscopy, mammalian cell culture, immunofluorescence, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, microfluidics.
Languages & platforms: Python, Bash, Matlab, R, Linux, Slurm, LaTeX, some PyTorch, some Julia, Adobe Illustrator.

Teaching

Teaching Fellow, LS50 Integrated Science

2016

Harvard University

One of the inaugural teaching fellows for a new, intensive double course for first-year undergraduates. Taught weekly sections, gave input on overall course structure, co-developed weekly problem sets, and co-wrote exams.

Volunteer Tutor, Star Learning Center

2013 – 2014

New York, NY

Taught high school chemistry to underprivileged students.

Peer Tutor, Wilson College

2009 – 2012

Princeton University

Tutored other students in entry-level science courses.

Additional Research

Interactions between microRNA and RNA-binding proteins

2010 – 2012

With Professor Hilary Coller at Princeton University, investigating novel post-transcriptional regulatory networks.

Quantifying D. melanogaster embryo morphogenesis

2008 – 2010

With Professor Eric Wieschaus at Princeton University, studying the genetic and morphological processes of cephalic furrow formation and developing software to analyze morphogenesis in three dimensions.

Hotspots of structural variation in the human genome

2009

With Dr. Jan Korbel at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, investigating the origins of differing structural variation rates in the genome.

Other Activities

D. E. Shaw Research: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group member; co-designed and co-led multi-day technical workshops for undergraduates; new-hire mentor.
Harvard University: Co-founder and co-organizer of the Quantitative Biology Series; Hertz Foundation in-school representative, organizing events and retreats for in-school fellows; public outreach including a non-fiction book about systems biology for general audiences.
Princeton University: Chair of the second-oldest college humor magazine in the country; outdoor orientation program leader trainer and member of its governing body; tour guide; Speakers Chair of the Student Bioethics Forum.
Outdoors: Eagle Scout and Order of the Arrow; avid backpacker.