Michelle A Williams

Biography

Michelle A. Williams, SM ’88, ScD ’91, is a renowned epidemiologist, an award-winning educator, and a widely recognized academic leader. She served for seven years as Dean of the Faculty at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, stepping down in June 2023. Prior to becoming Dean, she was Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School and Program Leader of the Population Health and Health Disparities Research Programs at Harvard’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Center.

Dr. Williams took a position as Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University in January 2025. She remains an adjunct professor at Harvard Chan School.

Dr. Williams previously had a distinguished career at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Her research places special emphasis in the areas of reproductive, perinatal, pediatric, and molecular epidemiology. Dr. Williams has published more than 520 scientific articles and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2016. In 2020, she was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and recognized by PR Week as one of the top 50 health influencers of the year. Dr. Williams has an undergraduate degree in biology and genetics from Princeton University, a master’s in civil engineering from Tufts University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in epidemiology from the Harvard Chan School.

Publications

• Evaluation of multiple breast cancer polygenic risk score panels in women of Latin American heritage.

  Huang X, Lott PC, Hu D, Zavala VA, Jamal ZN, Vidaurre T, Casavilca-Zambrano S, Navarro Vásquez J, Castañeda CA, Valencia G, Morante Z, Calderón M, Abugattas JE, Fuentes HA, Liendo-Picoaga R, Cotrina JM, Neciosup SP, Rioja Viera P, Salinas LA, Galvez-Nino M, Huntsman S, Sanchez SE, Williams MA, Gelaye B, Estrada-Florez AP, Polanco-Echeverry G, Echeverry M, Velez A, Carmona-Valencia JA, Bohorquez-Lozano ME, Torres J, Cruz M, Ho WK, Teo SH, Tai MC, John EM, Haiman CA, Conti DV, Chen F, Torres-Mejía G, Kushi LH, Neuhausen SL, Ziv E, Carvajal-Carmona LG, Fejerman L. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024 Dec 03

• Early-life menstrual characteristics and gestational diabetes in a large US cohort.

  Wang Z, Baird DD, Williams MA, Jukic AMZ, Wilcox AJ, Curry CL, Fischer-Colbrie T, Onnela JP, Hauser R, Coull BA, Mahalingaiah S. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 2024

• Ninth Version of the AJCC and UICC Nasopharyngeal Cancer TNM Staging Classification.

  Pan JJ, Mai HQ, Ng WT, Hu CS, Li JG, Chen XZ, Chow JCH, Wong E, Lee V, Ma LY, Guo QJ, Liu Q, Liu LZ, Xu TT, Gong XC, Qiang MY, Au KH, Liu TC, Chiang CL, Xiao YP, Lin SJ, Chen YB, Guo SS, Wong CHL, Tang LQ, Xu ZY, Jia YZ, Peng WS, Hu LP, Lu TZ, Jiang F, Cao CN, Xu W, Ma J, Blanchard P, Williams M, Glastonbury CM, King AD, Patel SG, Seethala RR, Colevas AD, Fan DM, Chua MLK, Huang SH, O'Sullivan B, Lydiatt W, Lee AWM. JAMA Oncol 2024 Oct 10

• Signs of Potential Androgen Excess Across the Lifespan in a US-based Digital Cohort Study.

  Wolf AT, Wang Z, Onnela JP, Baird DD, Jukic AMZ, Curry CL, Fischer-Colbrie T, Williams MA, Hauser R, Coull BA, Mahalingaiah S. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2024 Oct 10

• Menarche and Time to Cycle Regularity Among Individuals Born Between 1950 and 2005 in the US.

  Wang Z, Asokan G, Onnela JP, Baird DD, Jukic AMZ, Wilcox AJ, Curry CL, Fischer-Colbrie T, Williams MA, Hauser R, Coull BA, Mahalingaiah S. JAMA Netw Open 2024 May 01