Professor James McElnay gained his BSc and PhD from Queen's and, after registration as a qualified pharmacist, he spent a year at the University of Iowa on a postdoctoral fellowship. He continued his academic career at Queen's and spent a year as a visiting professor at the Texas Medical Centre in Houston before being awarded a Chair of Pharmacy Practice in 1995. He was Head of the School of Pharmacy from 1994 to 2001 and Dean of the Faculty of Science and Agriculture from 2001 to 2005.

Professor McElnay is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland. His research interests lie in the area of clinical pharmacy, with particular reference to pharmaceutical care and paediatric therapy.