Born on April 3rd, 1931, James Alexis Ling grew up in Princes Town but later moved to Port-of-Spain. He attended Tranquillity Boys’ Intermediate Government School and later, Queen’s Royal College, where he won the Jerningham Silver Medal. He won an Island Scholarship in 1949 and proceeded to the University College of the West Indies (UCWI) in Kingston, Jamaica to study medicine. In 1957, he graduated with his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and then commenced his internship at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston. He pursued his postgraduate training both there and at the Brompton Hospital and Institute for Diseases of the Chest in London, England. He completed his training in 1962 and went on to become a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) of London and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in the following year.

In 1964, Dr Ling returned to the University Hospital and served as Consultant Physician and Cardiologist until 1976. In that year, he was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) and appointed Director of the Coronary Care and Surgical Cardiac Units at Cedars Medical Center in Miami. Together with Dr Robert Reis, he established the open heart surgical programme at the Center. In 1984, he became the Consultant Cardiologist to Miami Heart Institute and to Mount Sinai Medical Center and Mount Sinai Medical Hospitals, holding this position until 2000. He also served as Consultant Cardiologist to Cedars Medical Center from 1984 to 2005. He is currently affiliated with the VA Medical Center in Miami.

In 1994, Dr Ling was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCPE) and awarded the Chaconia Medal (Silver) by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for his contribution to medicine. In 1998, he was given the honour of Distinguished Graduate by the Council and Senate of The University of the West Indies. In 2002, the Caribbean Cardiac Society honoured him for his advancement of cardiology in the region.