Professor Julie Williams
Professor Julie Williams is one of the UK's leading figures in Alzheimer's research and plays a key role in the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre on Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics as Head of the Neurodegeneration section.
Professor Williams' research focuses on identifying and understanding genes which increase the risk of developing complex psychological and neurodegenerative disorders and brings to the Research Institute extensive research expertise in Alzheimer’s disease, developmental dyslexia and psychotic disorders.
Having initially worked in the field of Schizophrenia research, her research has moved to Alzheimer’s disease, which remains her main research interest to date. Among her most important work is the discovery of susceptibility genes for Alzheimer’s disease – findings highlighted by Time Magazine as among the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2009.
Professor Williams’ previous research has also focused on the molecular genetics of developmental dyslexia (DD) resulting in funding from the Wellcome Trust, the Health Foundation and the Medical Research Council to support sample collection and genotyping. Her work on a susceptibility gene for DD was highlighted by the journal Science as one of the major discoveries of 2005.
Professor Williams was instrumental in establishing a Biostatistics/Bioinformatics Unit in Cardiff and is the current Chief Scientific advisor to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, UK.