Career Development Institute for Psychiatry
Dedicated to Launching and Maintaining Careers in Mental Health Research

Leanne Williams, PhD

Dr. Williams's research program is motivated by the need for a new model of mental disorder, one that integrates two complex systems: human brain function and human behavior. She uses multiple brain imaging techniques to develop brain-based models for classifying disorders that cut across multiple diagnostic categories. Her research program combines basic and clinically applicable neuroscience. Basic neuroscience investigations using MRI, EEG, imaging genetics, and behavioral measures are aimed at understanding neurodevelopment context of mental disorder and its treatment across the lifespan. In parallel, she pursues new designs for real world "practical" trials that are coupled with measures of brain circuits and genetics to identify biomarkers for prediction which treatments are most effective for each person. These approaches rely on harnessing modern computational methods to manage big datasets and address data-driven questions that cut across diagnostic categories. The program is interdisciplinary and seeks to advance personalized neuroscience for mental disorder. Dr. Williams's lab has a particular focus on large-scale neural circuits and emotional function. Given the immediate public need, the most recent studies focus on depression and anxiety.

Positions

  • Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University
  • Director of the PanLab for Personalized and Translational Neuroscience, Stanford and Palo Alto MIRECC VISN21
  • Director of PTSD Education, VA Palo Alto MIRECC VISN21
  • Honorary Professor, Sydney Medical School

Education & Training

  • PhD, 1996, Oxford University