Bio
Dr. Williams directs the PanLab for Precision Psychiatry and Translational Neuroscience. She has developed a new way to understand and treat mental disorders, anchored in a neuroscience-informed model for precision mental health. She integrates brain imaging, genetics, wearables and clinical information in the context of each person?s life experience. This model guides more precise diagnoses and treatment choices, and is being translated from lab to real-world settings. Her experience is that a neuroscience-informed model empowers each person with an understanding of their own brain function and can reduce barriers to equity.
After first graduating Dr. Williams worked with patients experiencing serious mental disorders and who had been hospitalized for many years. This experience transformed the trajectory of her career. She went on to complete her PhD in 1996 with a British Council scholarship for study at Oxford University.
Dr. Williams is the founding Director of the PanLab for Precision Psychiatry and Translational Neuroscience. She also leads department-wide initiatives in precision mental health as Associate Chair of Research Strategy and as the Chair of a research incubator that harnesses the activities of major labs focused on clinical translational neuroscience. She has a joint position at the Palo Alto VA Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center where she is Director of education and dissemination, focused on post-traumatic stress.
Dr. Williams first came to Stanford as a visiting Professor in 2011. At that time, she was leading a multi-site international study to identify brain biomarkers for depression and treatment response. She was thrilled to join the Stanford faculty in 2013. Prior to this time, she was foundation Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry at the Sydney Medical School and Director of the interdisciplinary Sydney Brain Dynamics Center for 12 years.
Academic Appointments
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Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
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Member, Stanford Neurosciences Institute
Administrative Appointments
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Associate Chair, Research Strategy, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University (2016 - Present)
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Chair, Steering Committee, Major Laboratories and Clinical Translational Neurosciences Incubator, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University (2015 - Present)
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Director of PTSD Education and Disssemination, VA Palo Alto Sierra-Pacific MIRECC (2013 - Present)
Honors & Awards
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Chairman's Award for Advancing Science, Stanford University (2016)
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Ernst Strüngmann Award: ?Schizophrenia evolution and synthesis?, Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Institute (2012)
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Presidential Award, American Psychosomatic Society (2008)
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Senior Biomedical Research Fellowship, Pfizer Foundation (2004)
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Young Investigator Award, International Schizophrenia Congress (2001)
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Senior Scientist Award, 10th Biennial Winter Workshop on Schizophrenia (2000)
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Research Award for study abroad at Institute of Psychiatry London, Wellcome Trust-Ramaciotti Foundation (1998)
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Outstanding Postgraduate Lecturer of the Year, University of Sydney (1997)
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Postgraduate scholarship for Oxford University, British Council (1991)
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Australian Postgraduate Research Award, Federal government (1990)
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Prize for Best Honors Research Thesis (national), Australian Psychological Society (1990)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Fellow, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2017 - Present)
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Scientific Advisory Board, Psyberguide, A project of the One Mind Institute (2015 - Present)
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Editorial Board, Network Neuroscience (MIT Press) (2017 - Present)
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Editorial Board, Personalized Medicine for Psychiatry (Elsevier) (2016 - Present)
Community and International Work
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Brain Research and Integrative Neuroscience Network: BRAINnet, www.BRAINnet.net
Topic
collaborative human clinical neuroscience
Partnering Organization(s)
BRAINnet Foundation
Populations Served
research and community
Location
International
Ongoing Project
Yes
Opportunities for Student Involvement
Yes