Usuario:Jason Russell Williams/Taller

Biography

Jason Russell Williams born April 8, 1974 Hattiesburg, Mississippi, U.S. , he is considered a pioneer in intratumoral immunotherapy and cancer ablative technologies such as cryoablation and RFA. He is involved in research with immunotherapy drug development and image-guided devices to treat cancer. He was the winner of the 2019 Vince Lombardi "Leaders for a Cure Award." He has won 2007 Telly and Communicator awards for his video work on RFA. He won the RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) Research fellow award in 2004. He is an American board-certified radiologist and author of "The Immunotherapy Revolution, The Best New Hope for Saving Cancer Patients' Lives." He is the founder of Williams Cancer Institute and an adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University.

Education  

• Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Medical Doctorate (2000)
• University of South Alabama, Internship Internal Medicine (2001)
• University of South Alabama, Residency Radiology (2007)
• Southeastern Louisiana University, Chemistry (1996)

Known for  

• Intratumoral immunotherapy​
• Best-selling author of the book "Immunotherapy Revolution, The Best New Hope For Saving Cancer Patients’ Lives"​​
• Image-guided ablation​​​

Family

Spouse: Stefanya Ramirez Ospina

Children:  3

Early Life:

On April 8, 1974, Williams was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, U.S., to Lois and James G. Williams. His father taught at Hinds Community College, and his mother was a nurse. At the age of 10, the family relocated to Madisonville, Louisiana, to be close to his grandmother, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The difficult process he witnessed with his grandmother, and ultimately her passing when he was age 12 led him into cancer. While in college studying chemistry, he joined a summer program that put him in the lab of Julie Cook, Ph.D. He studied gene therapy for cancer in this lab, mainly focusing on p53. He noted the excellent results when treatments were injected into tumors but lacked when used systemically, such as oral or IV. After he was accepted directly into medical school before graduating from college. In medical school, he learned of the specialty of interventional radiology and its ability to biopsy tumors with image guidance. It inspired him that it was possible for humans to inject medications into tumors in the same way he witnessed success in animal studies. He earned his doctorate in medicine from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA, in 2000.

Career

After earning his medical doctorate, Williams went to the University of South Alabama for an internship in Internal Medicine and a residency in Radiology. At the University of South Alabama, he trained under Drs. Jeffery Brandon and Steven Teplick, pioneers in image-guided procedures of the body. Under their direction, he focused on image-guided procedures for cancer. Williams started a cancer ablation program primarily focused on RFA. He helped lead the clinical use of one of the country's first PET/CT scanners. He quickly adopted PET/CT as a mapping technique for ablation, which enhanced his ability to treat more advanced cancers.   He witnessed several cases where partial and incomplete treatment of cancer by ablation led to a complete response, known as an abscopal (distant) effect. From this observation, he felt that injection of immunotherapy agents into the tumor could enhance the immune effects of ablation. He applied for a patent combining the use of pharmaceutical agents with ablative technologies.   He did an additional two years of training during his residency, focused chiefly on ablative technologies. He spent a fair amount of time working with Dr. Patrick Sewell from The University of Mississippi, a pioneer in ablative technologies, especially cryoablation.

Dr. Williams finished his residency and completed board certification in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine in 2007. After completing his residency, Dr. Williams chose to return to his home state and work in an underserved Mississippi delta area. He continued his work in cancer but was limited by the overall volume in which he needed to practice in all areas of radiology. After three years, he returned to Alabama and ultimately decided to solely focus on cancer. This led him to both Atlanta, South Florida, and Mexico City. He resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He is the founder and Chief of Interventional Oncology and Immunotherapy at Williams Cancer Institute.

He is a founding member of The Society of Interventional Oncology, a member of American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, Radiological Society of North America, and Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer.

Research

Dr. Williams focuses on image-guided ablative technologies, including RFA, cryoablation, and microwave ablation. He is also working on other ablative technologies and liquid injectables with ablative and immune-stimulating properties. He also focuses on multiple combination injections of immunotherapy agents, which led him to be a co-founder of a biotech, Syncromune.  One of his main research areas is using technology such as NanoString and IHC to evaluate the tumor microenvironment to develop adaptive combinations of immunotherapy injected into the tumor to respond to the cancer's treatment adaption and immune resistance. He also has founded a company, Cancer Care AI, that uses Artificial intelligence technology to predict supplements, targeted and off-label drugs that may enhance immunotherapy response rates. He also continues to maintain an interest in gene therapy.

Personal Life

Dr. Williams is married to Stefanya Ramirez Ospina from Colombia. She was studying nursing when they met. She is the CEO of Williams Cancer Institute. They lived in Mexico City for nearly seven years but relocated to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. In addition, they live part-time in Fort Lauderdale, FL, where Williams has a medical practice and is also home to biotech Syncromune.

Dr. Williams formerly played American Football as a placekicker. He last played indoor football for a professional team when he was 38 years old. Though he is still involved in physical fitness, he spends most of his time in cancer research and patient procedures.