Williams’ research focuses on discovering new targets for chemotherapy development in order to kill the parasite but not the person. One project that Williams has been working on for the past seven years with other researchers is the sequencing of the genome or genetic material of the parasite. Now that this sequence is available, researchers are able to compare the parasite and human genomes in order to find differences to exploit. Another interesting project Williams has been working on is discovering why the parasite has and uses what looks to be a gene from its mammalian host and determining how the parasite obtained this gene in the first place.

Along with research, Williams enjoys working with students, technicians, and postdocs in his research lab. He believes that hands-on experience can sometimes be the best teacher. Williams also enjoys teaching his classes like Parasitology and Genomics and Bioinformatics. Because these courses are somewhat obscure or very new, it is “easy to gauge how much students are learning and the information is useful and interesting.” Williams finds it extremely important to pass on the social aspects of science and research as well: “It is all about education, but how can you tell someone in a third world country who has to gather wood to make a fire in order to boil water that all water must be boiled before it can be used at all? It is just like educating Americans about cardiovascular disease. Even though people know the risk is there, they continue to eat unhealthy things and ignore exercise.”

Williams has a wife and two children--a first-year student in college and a sophomore in high school. After work, Williams loves to garden. He even has a small orchard that he tends. Williams is also affiliated with the Land Connection, an organization that is devoted to creating healthy farms, healthy food, and healthy communities.

Williams joined Illinois State’s Department of Biological Sciences in 1995 as an Assistant Professor of Parasitology and Adjunct Professor of Chemistry. Before coming to Illinois State, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at New York State Agriculture Experiment Station at Cornell University and Institut Pasteur Lille in France. He holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois-Urbana as well as a B.S. in Biochemistry from Cornell University in New York. While at Illinois State University Williams has received over $1 million in research funding from such places as the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization.