Issue date: 10/15/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Katie Langridge / Daily Vidette Photographer Dr. David Williams, associate professor of biological sciences at Rush University Medical Center, discusses "Not Neglecting Neglected Diseases: Efforts to Identify New Drugs for the Treatment of Schistosomiasis" Tuesday evening in the Old Main Room. [Click to enlarge]

The College of Arts and Sciences Fall lecture series welcomed Dr. David Williams, a former ISU professor who is currently an associate professor of biological sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Williams presented his breakthrough research on schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease affecting more than 200 million people worldwide.

"My motivation comes from two things," Williams said. "I love biochemistry and I have a great interest in trying to do something that might help people who don't have a lot of people trying to help them."

Williams' lecture was titled: "Not Neglecting Neglected Diseases: Efforts to Identify New Drugs for the Treatment of Schistosomiasis."

Currently, Williams is researching a drug, which could potentially treat the disease and improve the lives of millions who are infected. His work has been recognized by such respected journals as Nature Medicine and The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Williams has raised over $2.5 million from agencies including the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization.

"I believe that Dr. Williams is doing extremely important work," Gary Olson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said. "A break-through in his work will have substantially good repercussions around the world."

"Not only is he a first rate scientist," Olson added. "But he is a very kind and amiable human being."

Although Williams' main laboratory is now at Rush University, Olson said he still maintains close ties with ISU.

Williams first encountered schistosomiasis when he was in the Peace Corps, living in West Africa. The disease thrives in over 70 countries across the globe and is responsible for an estimated 280,000 deaths annually.

Those who don't die from the disease often experience anemia, chronic pain, diarrhea, internal bleeding and malnutrition.

"The disease is often associated with poverty," Williams said. "And it tends to perpetuate poverty in many communities."

Williams said that infections and parasitic diseases are the number one cause of death in the developing world.

"They affect hundreds of millions of people," he said. "But get very little attention in the developed world."

It is Williams' hope that his vaccine, known as Compound 9, will be finished with clinical studies and ready to administer to those infected within the next five years.

Currently, the only drug being used to fight schistosomiasis is praziquantel, which must be administered annually. It is Williams' concern that the widespread use of praziquantel alone could result in the evolution of immune parasites, leaving victims without effective treatment.

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