Professor James Larkin is a Medical Oncologist specialising in the treatment of melanoma and cancers of the kidney.

Professor Larkin grew up in North Cornwall before taking a first in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University. He undertook clinical training at Oxford University, qualifying in 1996. He underwent general medical training in London and in 2001 won a Medical Research Council Fellowship for a Clinician, carrying out laboratory research at the Institute of Cancer Research leading to a PhD. Specialist training was completed at The Royal Marsden and he was appointed a Consultant in 2008.

His research interests involve trying to understand cancer and its consequences better, as well as developing improved treatments, particularly with targeted therapies and immunotherapies. In the past he has served on the Medical Oncology Specialist Advisory Committee for the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board, as the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) National Specialty Lead for Early Phase Oncology Trials and as Vice Chair of the CRUK Clinical Research Committee as well as Chair of the NCRI Renal Cancer Clinical Studies Group, The Royal Marsden/Institute of Cancer Research Committee for Clinical Research and the CRUK Clinical Research Monitoring Panel.

In 2018 he was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and in 2020 as an NIHR Senior Investigator. From 2022 he has led the Cancer Immunotherapy Theme at The Royal Marsden/Institute of Cancer Research NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. Professor Larkin serves as a medical advisor to the patient advocacy group Melanoma UK, as a trustee of the Kidney Cancer Support Network and sits on the Medical Advisory Board of the International Kidney Cancer Coalition.