Chad Williams, PhD
About Chad Williams, PhD
Chad Williams, PhD, is a Senior Scientist at Kite Pharma, specializing in T cell antigen recognition and memory generation. He has an extensive background in Biomedical Engineering, with previous roles at the Georgia Institute of Technology and The University of Texas at Austin.
Work at Kite Pharma
Chad Williams has been employed at Kite Pharma as a Senior Scientist since 2019. In this role, he focuses on T cell antigen recognition and memory generation. His research specifically investigates CD8+ T cell responses in naive antiviral HCV specific T cells. This work contributes to the understanding of T cell behavior and its implications for therapeutic strategies in oncology.
Education and Expertise
Chad Williams holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Biomedical/Medical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, which he completed from 2013 to 2018. Prior to that, he earned a Master's degree in the same field at the same institution from 2013 to 2015. His undergraduate studies were conducted at Georgia Institute of Technology, where he received a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Biomedical/Medical Engineering from 2009 to 2013.
Background
Chad Williams began his academic career at Georgia Institute of Technology, where he worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant from 2010 to 2013. He then transitioned to The University of Texas at Austin, where he served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow from 2013 to 2019. His research during this time included the utilization of TCR affinity and signal transduction to predict T cell responses during CMV infection.
Research Contributions
During his postdoctoral fellowship, Chad Williams investigated antigen experienced CMV specific CD8+ T cells and their responses to ongoing human Cytomegalovirus infection across different age groups. He conducted TCR repertoire analysis combined with TCR affinity matched TCR sequences to determine optimal TCR affinity for memory recruitment and long-term maintenance of immunological memory.