Research Profile:
Professor Timothy Williams

Professor Tim Williams is the Asthma UK Professor of Applied Pharmacology, Division of Biomedical Sciences, Imperial College, London. Professor Williams is the Asthma UK Professor of Applied Pharmacology, Head of the Leukocyte Biology Section at the National Heart and Lung Institute, and Faculty of Medicine Campus Dean for the South Kensington Campus of Imperial College London.

He and his colleagues are increasing our understanding of the molecules and processes that cause asthma symptoms - the starting point for creating new asthma treatments.

 

What aspect of asthma are you working on?

When someone experiences asthma symptoms, the muscles around their airways tighten so that the airways become narrower, the lining of their airways becomes inflamed and starts to swell, and there is increased mucus secretion.

A major part of the inflammation is the movement of large numbers of particular types of white blood cells from the blood stream and into lung tissues.

These cells cause acute and chronic symptoms of asthma, and long-term changes in the structure and behaviour of the airways. We are interested in the chemical signals produced in the lungs that act like a scent, attracting white blood cells into the tissues of the lungs.

How will your work help people with asthma?

We specialise in trying to find out, at a molecular level, what causes the changes that occur in the lungs of people with asthma.

From this, key molecules can be identified which become the targets for the development of a new generation of drugs aimed at a more effective and selective prevention or relief of asthma symptoms.

This is a long-term process: it always takes several years between the discovery of a key molecule and the development of an entirely new asthma treatment.

What discovery are you most proud of?

During my research career my colleagues and I have developed a number of new scientific techniques that we have used very successfully.

For example, in 1994 we published our discovery of Eotaxin. This molecule is produced in the lungs of people with asthma and attracts eosinophilic white blood cells, which contribute to asthma symptoms. Hundreds of scientists have since worked on Eotaxin, and we are hopeful that compounds that block Eotaxin will one day be effective new asthma treatments. 

We have also found molecules that bring about the migration of immature forms of mast cells into the lungs.

Mast cells, another type of white blood cell, are associated with acute asthma symptoms, whereas eosinophils are linked with the number of asthma attacks and long-term changes in airway structure.

How is Asthma UK helping your research?

Asthma UK has funded my professorship since my appointment in 1988. This has allowed me to recruit first class researchers who specialise in different types of cells, mechanisms and molecules.

In the Leukocyte Biology Section, we now have approximately 50 researchers at all levels of seniority, including PhD students.

These scientists have formed close collaborative associations with colleagues at Imperial and King’s College London, within the MRC-Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma. All this was made possible as a direct consequence of the initial funding for my chair by Asthma UK.

Why are you interested in asthma?

My original interest was in inflammatory mechanisms in general.

I started to specialise in asthma research on my appointment 22 years ago.  I have found it enormously satisfying to focus on a condition that is of such importance to so may people.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I enjoy the challenge of trying to understand how cells communicate with one another, and designing experiments to test out theories to explain the cross-talk.

It is especially stimulating to be a member of worldwide community of like-minded scientists, which provides the opportunity to exchange ideas on topics of real importance to asthma and the creation of future treatments.

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