Professor Tom Williams
Contact information
Research groups
Tom Williams
Honorary Visiting Research Fellow in Tropical Medicine
Tom is Professor of Haemoglobinopathy Research at Imperial College, London. Tom has worked in Kilifi since May 2000, where he now directs a programme of human genetic research with a focus on polymorphisms of the red blood cell.
He obtained his medical degree at Westminster Medical School in the University of London in 1985 and subsequently trained in Paediatrics and Tropical Medicine at a range of London hospitals including Westminster Children's Hospital, University College, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Imperial College. He obtained his PhD on the genetics of malaria resistance in children, from the University of London in 1999.
He has published extensively on the burden and clinical consequences of red cell genetic disorders and their relationship with malaria protection, questions which he studies using both laboratory-based and epidemiological approaches.
Recent publications
Intravenous Artesunate in Artemisinin-Resistant Severe Malaria in Uganda.
Journal article
Maitland K. et al, (2026), N Engl J Med
The Epidemiology of Sickle Cell Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa: Current Knowledge and Gaps to be Filled.
Journal article
Ranque B. et al, (2026), American journal of hematology, 101 Suppl 1, 5 - 16
Growth and puberty in African children with sickle cell anemia treated with hydroxyurea.
Conference paper
Backeljauw P. et al, (2026), Blood advances
Hydroxyurea pharmacokinetics in children with sickle cell anemia across different global populations.
Journal article
Power-Hays A. et al, (2026), Blood advances, 10, 418 - 427
Hydroxyurea - Pragmatic Reduction In Mortality and Economic burden (H-PRIME): A 2x2x2 factorial randomised open-label trial investigating practical approaches to the treatment of sickle cell disease at four sites in Eastern Uganda
Journal article
Olupot-Olupot P. et al, (2025), Wellcome Open Research, 10, 244 - 244