Michael Williams is the Director of Immuno-Materials at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and is an Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the UNC-NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. He brings with him over 35 years of translational biomedical research and development experience in both industry and academia.
Prior to joining the Wyss, Williams served as Professor of the Practice at the UNC-NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and as Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the UNC School of Medicine. Williams has also served in multiple other roles including, for example, as Visiting Scientist and Research Affiliate in the Langer Lab at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Chief Technology Officer at Synecor, LLC, Chief Technology Officer at Synergy Life Sciences, Vice President and General Manager of Medtronic’s Neurovascular Technologies Division and as Vice President of Science and Technology of Medtronic’s Vascular Division. As an entrepreneur, he is also the co-founder of seven companies.
In his work Williams has remained on the forefront of numerous new technology frontiers including, for example, single administration pulsed antigen releasing microneedle vaccination technology, intravascular metallic and bioabsorbable drug delivery stents, intravascular neuromodulation devices, intravascular brachytherapy, interventional neurovascular therapeutic technologies and intravascular photodynamic therapy.
His current research interests revolve around the exploration, discovery and translation of therapeutic solutions to unmet medical needs in immunology, the lymphatic system, cardiology and vascular biology.