James Coburn, CAPT

James Coburn joined ARPA-H as a Portfolio Lead in July 2025 on detail from his position as Senior Advisor for Emerging Technologies in the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of the Chief Scientist. There, he led a team that increases the agency’s experience with cross-cutting advanced manufacturing technologies. His expertise is medical manufacturing advancements, accelerated adoption of those emerging technologies, and supply chain resilience. Coburn regularly coordinates with industry and government groups on medical supply chain resilience and was previously the Medical Manufacturing Innovation Lead for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.   

In his role in the Public Health Service, Coburn has deployed to disasters and outbreak zones where he has seen agile processes and digital systems help to improve the response. He received his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Brown University and is a recognized expert in additive manufacturing for medical products.