James Shayman

James Shayman, M.D. received his undergraduate degree in philosophy from Cornell University and medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Clinical training in internal medicine and nephrology was obtained at Barnes Hospital and was followed by post-doctoral training in the Department of Pharmacology. He was recruited to the University of Michigan Medical School in 1986 where he is currently the Agnes C. and Frank D. MacKay Professor with appointments internal medicine and pharmacology. His primary research has focused on understanding the mechanistic basis of and the development of small molecule therapeutics for lysosomal storage diseases.  To this end, his group has targeted glucosylceramide synthase as a potential treatment for Gaucher and Fabry disease. Eliglustat tartrate, a first in class glucosylceramide synthase inhibitor, was a result of these efforts and was the first approved “stand alone” oral therapy for this Gaucher type 1 disease. Current work in the Shayman group includes the development of novel glycolipid synthesis inhibitors that cross the blood brain barrier with the potential application for diseases such as neuronopathic Gaucher disease, Tay-Sachs and GM1 gangliosidosis. His group also discovered and characterized a novel lysosomal hydrolase, now designated phospholipase A2 group XV. This lipase functions in surfactant catabolism, host defense to mycobacterial infection, clearance of apoptotic cells, oxidized phospholipid catabolism, and is the primary target of cationic amphiphilic drugs that cause phospholipidosis, an acquired lysosomal storage disorder.  

Dr. Shayman has published over 160 peer reviewed papers and is cited as an inventor on more than 60 US and international patents. While at the University of Michigan he has served as the associate chair for research in the department of internal medicine and associate vice-president for research, health sciences at the university level. Among his honors is the 2016 Distinguished University Innovator Award for the discovery and development of eliglustat.