Dr. Stephen Williams, Chief Medical Officer at SomaLogic, a global leader in proteomics (the study of proteins), discusses what proteomics is, how it is used in both drug discovery and in prognostic and diagnostic testing, and how it differs from genomics. He will also discuss the company’s technology platform, which houses one of the largest clinical proteomic databases in the world, and why this is significant. To illustrate the power of proteomics to healthcare, Dr. Williams will discuss a blood test the company has developed for cardiac disease that can predict whether someone is at high risk for a heart attack, stroke, heart failure, or if they are dying from one of these conditions within a 4-year period. The test measures the individual’s proteins in real time. By predicting acute events tailored for an individual patient, SomaSignal tests may help improve medication adherence or inform other interventions – empowering physicians through the implementation of precision medicine. This ensures patients receive optimal therapies, thereby reducing waste and unnecessary costs within our health system, including reducing hospitalizations, and avoiding readmissions and other costly health complications.

Stephen Williams, M.D., Ph.D. is the Chief Medical Officer at SomaLogic and is responsible for Clinical R&D, Medical Affairs and Regulatory and Quality. He oversees clinical application of the SomaScan ® Platform and has also had roles in launching the life sciences commercial business, assay development and bioinformatics.Prior to SomaLogic, Dr. Williams co-founded the pharma consultancy Decisionability, LLC and authored the book “Decisionability: The skill to make your decisions productive, practical and painless.”  Previously, he worked at Pfizer, Inc., initially in experimental medicine and later as the Vice President and Worldwide Head of Clinical Technology. He was also on the National Advisory Council for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He helped launch the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging (ADNI) study and form the FDA-FNIH-PhRMA biomarker consortium. He led or co-led the PhRMA position papers on “proof of concept,” surrogate endpoints and evidentiary standards for biomarkers and diagnostics.   Dr. Williams has degrees in physiology, medicine and surgery, and received his doctorate in medicine and physiology from Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School (now a part of Imperial College, London). He also obtained training in diagnostic imaging at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

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