Kelly Williams

Kelly Williams is an Associate Professor at the Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, and leads the Advanced Gene Discovery Team as Head of Genomics & Bioinformatics within the Centre for Motor Neuron Disease (MND) Research. She holds a PhD from the University of Sydney and a BSc (Honours I) from Macquarie University.

• Education:
  • PhD, University of Sydney (2013)
  • BSc (Honours I), Macquarie University (2007)

Research Interests:

• Genetic basis of MND and frontotemporal dementia (FTD)
• Identification of causal mutations and disease-modifying factors in neurodegenerative diseases
• Bioinformatic and biostatistical analysis of RNA-seq, exome sequencing, and methylation microarrays
• Translational genomics for clinical diagnostics, including PGD and pre-symptomatic testing

Recent Publications focus on transcriptomic alterations in ALS, cerebellum involvement, and UBQLN2 pathology in ALS-FTD. Her work also includes global collaborations on MND genetics and biobank infrastructure development.

Scientific Awards:

• MNDRA Bill Gole Postdoctoral Fellowship
• NHMRC Early Career Research Fellowship
• FightMND Bill Guest Mid-Career Research Fellowship
• NHMRC EL2 Investigator Fellowship

Teaching: Co-instructor for the LaTeX and Overleaf training course (MEDI2201) for HDR students and supervisors. External Positions:

• Visiting Scholar, University of Utah (2024-2025)
• Visiting Research Fellow, Garvan Institute of Medical Research (2016)
• Visiting Research Fellow, University of Queensland (2015-2016)
• Research Residency, University of Montréal (2010)