Academic history
David Williams, MD, completed his medical degree at the Indiana University School of Medicine, in Indianapolis, IN, followed by an internship and residency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, OH. He then went on to complete a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA, and is currently the Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dr Williams has won numerous awards for his research, such as the Frank Oski Award of the American Society of Hematology and the Donald Metcalf Award from the International Society for Hematology and Stem Cells. He is also a faculty member at both Harvard Medical School and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Speaking on sickle cell disease
Dr Williams’ research interests are centered around understanding the biology of hematopoietic stem cells to aid the development of treatments for genetic blood disorders such as sickle cell disease, aplastic anemia, chronic granulomatous disease, and Fanconi anemia. His extensive work has contributed to translational research focusing on utilizing hematopoietic stem cells as a target for gene therapy manipulations. Dr Williams has been involved in several Phase I/II clinical trials evaluating stem cell gene transfer in patients with sickle cell disease.
