May 13, 2010
Michelle Williams to give School of Public Health Spring Quarter 2010 Distinguished Faculty Lecture
Dr. Michelle Williams, UW professor of epidemiology and global health, will deliver the School of Public Health’s Spring Quarter Distinguished Faculty Lecture. Her lecture is titled “Biomedical, Social, and Environmental Determinants of Reproductive Health: A Changing Landscape.” It will be presented at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, May 13, in T-747 Health Sciences.
Williams is the founder and director of the University’s Multidisciplinary International Research Training (MIRT) Program, which trains students from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds for research and leadership careers in public health. The MIRT Program received the University’s Brotman Award for Instructional Excellence in 2007. Also in 2007, the American Public Health Association honored Williams with its Lilienfeld Award, which recognizes excellence in teaching and research in epidemiology.
Williams co-directs the Center for Perinatal Studies at Swedish Medical Center. Her research focuses on integrating genomic sciences and epidemiological research methods to identify risk factors, diagnostic markers, treatments, and prevention targets for disorders that contribute to maternal and infant mortality. Her research and teaching activities include collaborations with epidemiologists in Peru, Ecuador, Vietnam, Thailand, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and the Republic of Georgia.
After receiving her undergraduate degree in genetics from Princeton, Williams earned master’s degrees in civil engineering from Tufts and demography from Harvard. She then received her doctorate in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health before joining the faculty in the UW School of Public Health in 1992.
