Dr. James "Jim" Thommes is a physician and partner at Pacific Oaks Medical Group in Los Angeles, CA, where he serves as Medical Director to the research group. Dr. Thommes is also Attending Physician at Pacific Oaks, where he has a specialized focus on internal medicine and primary HIV care, and the hematological and oncological complications of HIV. Dr. Thommes is also a Clinical Instructor in Medicine at the UCLA AIDS Care Center.

Since 1990, Dr. Thommes has been the principal investigator on numerous HIV clinical studies. He has been published in and/or authored abstracts for the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Twelfth World AIDS Conference and Conferences on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. Dr. Thommes is a frequent lecturer on the treatment of HIV, and its related opportunistic infections and malignancies, most recently at a Bristol-Myers Squibb-sponsored HIV Treaters Symposium and at an advocates training week at AIDS Project Los Angeles. He has been appointed to the HIV distinguished faculty groups for Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ortho Biotech, Inc.

Dr. Thommes is active in several community organizations, including Project Angel Food, the South West COMBAT Group, and the Lobby for Individual Freedom and Equality (LIFE), and is a member of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA).

Dr. Thommes received his M.D. from Southern Illinois University and completed his internal medicine residency at St. Mary's Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI. He completed a fellowship in hematology/oncology at UCLA/Sepulveda VA Medical Center. Dr. Thommes is American Board certified in internal medicine and is currently working toward completion of a health care executive MBA from the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Thommes receives funding for research from Abbott Laboratories, Amgen, DuPont Pharmaceuticals, Ilex, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Liposomal Technologies, Inc., and Univax Biologics. Support for Dr. Thommes' coverage of ICAAC 98 at The Body is provided by Bristol-Myers Squibb Immunology.