As Dr. Stephen Williams notes, diseases, like people, are multidimensional: Single markers, whether high blood pressure or cholesterol levels, don’t typically identify someone’s full risk for potential health concerns in the future. Identifying numerous protein biomarkers that point to health risks – such as stroke – years before they manifest can better highlight health concerns and help develop and validate treatments.
Williams, the Chief Medical Officer of Standard BioTools, has helped set standards for proteomics, as well as developed best practices throughout the medical industry for their role in drug development and clinical trial design.
Williams oversees Standard BioTools’ SomaScan Platform, a proteomic technology using modified DNA aptamers to bind to specific proteins (SomaScan will be available at the DOC 2025 Living Room Lab). The tool measures thousands of protein biomarkers and analyzes their role in processes and diseases faster than traditional methods, including mass spectrometry. A Science Translation Medicine paper, led and co-authored by Williams in 2022, found that a 27-protein model employed by the technology could predict a four-year likelihood of cardiovascular risks including stroke, myocardial infarction, heart failure, or death.
Williams spent 18 years at Pfizer, joining its Experimental Medicine in 1989. His roles included Vice President, Worldwide Head of Clinical Technology, where he helped lead new studies and initiatives to advance medical innovation. With a particular focus on biomarkers, Williams crafted a framework for FDA drug development guidance on biomarker qualification.
Additionally, Williams helped launch the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging (ADNI) study with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is a founding member of the National Advisory Council for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at NIH. He also co-established the FDA-FNIH-PhRMA biomarker consortium. Further, he’s guided hundreds of clients on designing clinical trials employing biomarkers in health research.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Williams to the DOC 2025 Faculty!