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76th APS President (2003-2004)
John A. Williams
(b. 1941)
John A. Williams is Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular &
Integrative Physiology and Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of
Gastroenterology at the University of Michigan, positions he has held since
1987. Williams was born in 1941 in Des Moines, Iowa and grew up in
Ellensburg, Washington where his father was Chair of Social Sciences at
Central Washington College of Education. He received a B.S. in 1962 from
Central Washington State College and an M.D. (with honors) and Ph.D. in
Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Washington in 1968.
Williams’ Ph.D. thesis was on electrophysiology of the thyroid gland and was
done in collaboration with his mentor, Walter J. Woodbury, a pioneer of
microelectrode recording. Williams undertook three different postdoctoral
positions: the first was in the Department of Pharmacology at the University
of Utah with Dixon Woodbury. The second involved research on thyroid
function with Jan Wolff at the NIH where he served as a commissioned officer
in the Public Health Service. The third was as a Helen Hay Whitney Fellow in
the Department of Pharmacology, Cambridge University, England, where he
worked in the laboratory of Keith Matthews on brown adipose tissue and was
introduced to the study of exocrine pancreas. Williams began his faculty
career in the Department of Physiology at the University of California at
San Francisco in 1973 and was promoted to Professor in 1979. In San
Francisco Williams also served as Professor of Medicine, Vice-Chair of
Physiology, and Co-Director of the Laboratory of Cell Biology at Mount Zion
Hospital where he enjoyed a productive collaboration with Ira Goldfine.
Williams’ research over the past 30 years has focused
on the exocrine pancreas. He began this research because the pancreas was a
larger source of homogenous secretory cells than the endocrine glands. The
research rapidly led to studies of the neural and hormonal control of the
pancreas as well as continued studies of the intracellular mechanisms
controlling exocytosis in this prototypical secretory cell. Williams’
accomplishments included the description of the release of intracellular
sequestered Ca2+ as the central control for enzyme release, the
original description of distinct peripheral and brain receptors for
cholecystokinin (CCK), the definition of the role of CCK as a hormone
regulating pancreatic secretion, gall bladder contraction and gastric
emptying in humans and animal models, and the role of insulin from
pancreatic islets as a regulator of pancreatic exocrine function. By this
time he was considered more a GI than an endocrine physiologist. More
recently his work has defined the complex nature of intracellular signaling
pathways in acinar cells, continued to refine understanding of the molecular
nature of exocytosis in acinar cells, and defined translational control
mechanisms whereby synthesis of pancreatic digestive enzymes are enhanced
with each meal. At the techniques level, Williams developed the isolated
acinar preparation which became the primary way to study acinar function
in vitro and the first assay to reliably measure plasma CCK as distinct
from its close relative, gastrin. His research has been supported by the
NIH since 1973, and led to over 250 original research papers published in
different journals including the American Journal of Physiology. As part of
this research, Williams has supervised over 60 postdoctoral fellows,
graduate students and undergraduates from around the world. The academic
progress of his students are a source of satisfaction to Williams and many
are now active researchers as well as Professors and Departmental Chairs in
both basic science and clinical departments.
Williams APS membership began in 1973. He has served as a member and
chair of the Steering Committee for the Gastrointestinal Section, as a
member of APS Council, and on the Nominating, Publications, and Long-Range
Planning Committees. In the publications arena he has served for many years
on the Editorial Board and six years as Chief Editor of the American
Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology. He
also serves as an Associate Editor of News in Physiological
Sciences. Outside APS he is currently a Section Editor for Annual Review
of Physiology, served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Clinical
Investigation, and has served on the Editorial Boards of
Gastroenterology, Digestion, Regulatory Peptides,
Pancreas, and The FASEB Journal. He has been a Grant Reviewer
for NIH, NSF and the Wellcome Trust among others and was a permanent member
of the GMA2 and NIDDK-C Study Sections, which review grants and training in
digestive diseases and nutrition. He is an active member of several other
academic societies and served on Council and as President of the American
Pancreatic Association.
Williams has been the recipient of several awards including membership in
Alpha Omega Alpha, the APS GI Section Research Award, the Horace Davenport
Lectureship of the APS, and the Ismar Boas Medal of the German
Gastroenterological Association. He was elected as a Fellow of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science in 1998.
Outside of academic life Williams is a member of the Ann Arbor Friends
Meeting and a former Trustee of Friends School in Detroit. His interests,
which he shares with his wife, Christa, include maintaining a historic
house, gardening, travel, and outdoor activities such as hiking and river
rafting.
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