Rate My Professor Ben Williams

Ben Williams is a scientist whose research is closely associated with the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago through the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit. He has contributed extensively to longitudinal studies examining biological aging, genetics, environmental influences on psychopathology, and health biomarkers using data from the Dunedin birth cohort. His technical expertise includes processing biological samples, providing genotype data from DNA, quantifying mRNA via Q-PCR, measuring telomeres, and assessing plasma inflammatory cytokines using ELISA. Williams maintains biobanks and supports field collection of blood, saliva, buccal swabs, and bloodspots for these investigations.

Williams has co-authored several high-impact publications emerging from the Dunedin Study. Key works include 'Quantification of biological aging in young adults' (PNAS, 2015), which developed a multi-biomarker method to track the pace of aging in young adults; 'Moderation of the effect of adolescent-onset cannabis use on adult psychopathology' (Science, 2002), revealing gene-environment interactions in psychosis risk; 'Polymorphisms in the DLG2 gene are associated with weight gain and body mass index in women' (though specific title varies, contributions noted in cohort studies); 'Eleven Telomere, Epigenetic Clock, and Biomarker-Composite Measurements of Biological Age Predict Health Decline' (American Journal of Epidemiology, 2018); 'Is Adult ADHD a Childhood-Onset Neurodevelopmental Disorder?' (American Journal of Psychiatry, 2016); and 'Are macular drusen in midlife a marker of accelerated biological aging?' (Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 2021). These publications have advanced fields of behavioral genetics, developmental psychology, and gerontology. Currently, as Lab Research Analyst II in Duke University's Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Moffitt & Caspi Lab, Williams has supported the team for nearly 10 years. His professional email at the University of Otago is ben.williams@otago.ac.nz.