Steven A Williams

I've been a faculty member at both Smith College and the University of Massachusetts for the past 30 years. I'm also an adviser for the Task Force on Global Health and an active participant in the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis. My research focus is to elucidate the molecular biology of the parasites that cause elephantiasis, African river blindness and other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Most of the research in my laboratory is focused on the goal of eliminating these diseases that afflict an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide. Specifically, we work on advanced DNA diagnostics and genomics. Recently, a talented group in my lab has expanded our diagnostic efforts to include viruses that infect humans such as dengue, chikungunya and zika. We also have an excellent group in the laboratory that studies the parasites of endangered marine and terrestrial mammals. Our research is funded primarily by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

March 2016