Richard Williams

Associate Professor

Richard Williams has worked at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology since 1989 and was a Senior Lecturer (2007-2011) and then Reader (2011-2012) at Imperial College London before joining the University of Oxford.

He is also a Visiting Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and was recently appointed as an Editor of Frontiers in Immunology.

He has established an internationally recognised reputation in translational research and his early studies were instrumental in the development of TNF blocking biologics.

He has carried out numerous projects with British and overseas industrial partners, including Merck, Pfizer, GSK, UCB, Schering, Celgene and J&J and has led an MRC DPFS project on rheumatoid arthritis.

Key publications

cIAP1/2 inhibition synergizes with TNF inhibition in autoimmunity by down-regulating IL-17A and inducing Treg cells
Journal article

WILLIAMS R. et al, (2019), Science Advances
Selective tumor necrosis factor receptor I blockade is antiinflammatory and reveals immunoregulatory role of tumor necrosis factor receptor II in collagen-induced arthritis.
Journal article

McCann FE. et al, (2014), Arthritis Rheumatol, 66, 2728 - 2738
Treg cell function in rheumatoid arthritis is compromised by ctla-4 promoter methylation resulting in a failure to activate the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase pathway.
Journal article

Cribbs AP. et al, (2014), Arthritis Rheumatol, 66, 2344 - 2354
Incomplete response of inflammatory arthritis to TNFα blockade is associated with the Th17 pathway.
Journal article

Alzabin S. et al, (2012), Ann Rheum Dis, 71, 1741 - 1748
Indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase-mediated tryptophan catabolism regulates accumulation of Th1/Th17 cells in the joint in collagen-induced arthritis.
Journal article

Criado G. et al, (2009), Arthritis Rheum, 60, 1342 - 1351
Blockade of tumor necrosis factor in collagen-induced arthritis reveals a novel immunoregulatory pathway for Th1 and Th17 cells.
Journal article

Notley CA. et al, (2008), J Exp Med, 205, 2491 - 2497

Recent publications

TNF receptor 2 signaling prevents DNA methylation at the Foxp3 promoter and prevents pathogenic conversion of regulatory T cells.
Journal article

Tseng W-Y. et al, (2019), Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
cIAP1/2 inhibition synergizes with TNF inhibition in autoimmunity by down-regulating IL-17A and inducing Treg cells
Journal article

WILLIAMS R. et al, (2019), Science Advances
Response to: 'Potential roles for tenascin in (very) early diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis' by Cutolo et al.
Journal article

Aungier S. et al, (2019), Ann Rheum Dis
Functional and phenotypic heterogeneity of Th17 cells in health and disease.
Journal article

Bystrom J. et al, (2019), Eur J Clin Invest, 49
Ibudilast inhibits chemokine expression in rheumatoid synovial fibroblasts and exhibits immunomodulatory activity in experimental arthritis
Journal article

CLANCHY FI. and WILLIAMS RO., (2018), Arthritis and Rheumatology

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