L. Keoki Williams

The scope of Dr. Williams' research includes the fields of genetics, genomics, pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacogenomics, and epidemiology. His particular interests include assessing medication use and its effects in large patient populations and identifying the genetic predictors of medication response. He and his lab are actively involved in large-scale projects to identify the genetic causes of asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease (and fitness) and other common, but genetically complex, conditions.

His lab has developed and refined methods to measure medication use longitudinally in large patient populations. We have used these measures to accomplish the following: quantify patient non-adherence to medication and its effects on outcomes, better identify and measure intended and unintended consequences of particular medications, and discover novel genetic predictors of medication treatment response in multiple race-ethnic groups.

Dr. Williams' research group has particular experience in large, population-based studies. These studies contribute to discoveries that expand our knowledge of disease etiologies, including both genetic and environmental causes. One of our ongoing studies, called SAPPHIRE (Study of Asthma Phenotypes and Pharmacogenomic Interactions by Race-ethnicity), is among the largest of its kind in the United States and includes over 6000 participants with asthma. As with many of our studies, the SAPPHIRE cohort includes a broad representation of individuals who differ in age, sex, race-ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. This diversity ensures that the knowledge gained through these studies is broadly applicable to the whole population and not restricted to any one group.