David R. Williams

About

David R. Williams is the Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor of Public Health at Harvard University, also serving as a Professor of African and African American Studies and Sociology. He holds an MPH from Loma Linda University and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Michigan. With previous faculty appointments at Yale University and the University of Michigan, Dr. Williams is an internationally recognized social scientist focused on social influences on health. His research has significantly contributed to understanding how socioeconomic status, race, stress, racism, health behavior, and religious involvement impact health outcomes. He has authored more than 475 scientific papers and developed the Everyday Discrimination Scale, the most widely used measure of discrimination in health studies. Dr. Williams has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences, and has received numerous honors including awards from the American Sociological Association, the American Psychological Association, and the New York Academy of Medicine. His work includes directing the South African Stress and Health Study, the first nationally representative study of mental disorders in sub-Saharan Africa, and participating in the largest study of mental health disorders in the African American population in the U.S. He has played a prominent role in health policy development at the national…

Research topics

• Medicine
• Sociology
• Political Science
• Demography
• Psychology
• Pathology
• Internal medicine
• Gender studies
• Nursing
• Gerontology

Selected publications

• Changes in symptomatology, reinfection, and transmissibility associated with the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7: an ecological study

  The Lancet Public Health · 2021 · 343 citations

  BACKGROUND: The SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 was first identified in December, 2020, in England. We aimed to investigate whether increases in the proportion of infections with this variant are associated with differences in symptoms or disease course, reinfection rates, or transmissibility. METHODS: , for the two incidence estimates. FINDINGS: fell below 1 during regional and national lockdowns, even in regions with high proportions of infections with the B.1.1.7 variant. INTERPRETATION: The lack…

  DOI

• Mitigating ethnic disparities in covid-19 and beyond

  BMJ · 2021 · 251 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  The disproportionate effect of covid-19 on ethnic minorities in some high income countries throws into sharp relief the effects of racism on health. On almost all health measures, ethnic minority groups, especially black and South Asian people, have the worst outcomes. 1 -6 The covid-19 pandemic is just another example. 7 This is a moral issue that has outraged civilised societies. As Alexandre Dumas wrote: "Moral wounds have this peculiarity-they may be hidden, but they never close; always pain…

  DOI

• Discrimination and systemic inflammation: A critical review and synthesis

  Brain Behavior and Immunity · 2020 · 176 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• The Intellectual Roots Of Current Knowledge On Racism And Health: Relevance To Policy And The National Equity Discourse

  Health Affairs · 2022 · 81 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Research related to racism and health has evolved in recent decades, with a growing appreciation of the centrality of the social determinants of health, life-course approaches and structural racism, and other upstream factors as drivers of health inequities. Examining how race, class, and structural racism relate to each other and combine over the life course to affect health can facilitate a clearer understanding of the determinants of health. Yet there is ongoing discomfort in many public heal…

  PublisherDOI

• Racial Disparities in Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: The Roles of Cumulative Stress Exposures Across the Life Course

  The Journals of Gerontology Series A · 2021 · 61 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Racial disparities in cognitive function are well documented, but factors driving these disparities remain underexplored. This study aims to quantify the extent to which cumulative stress exposures across the life course explain Black-White disparities in executive function and episodic memory in middle-aged and older adults. METHOD: Data were drawn from the 2004-2006 wave of the Midlife Development in the United States Study (MIDUS 2) and the MIDUS Refresher study (N = 5,947; 5,262…

  DOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant P01MH058565

  NIH · $10.6M · 2008

• NIH Grant R01MH057425

  NIH · $458k · 2001

• NIH Grant N01HC095095

  NIH · $11.7M · 2003

Frequent coauthors

• Natalie Slopen

  119 shared

• Jordi Alonso

  Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública

  119 shared

• Dan J. Stein

  South African Medical Research Council

  116 shared

• Carol D. Ryff

  Institute on Aging

  70 shared

• Laura D. Kubzansky

  Harvard University

  66 shared

• Josep María Haro

  Instituto de Salud Carlos III

  60 shared

• Giovanni de Girolamo

  Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico

  59 shared

• Eric B. Rimm

  Brigham and Women's Hospital

  56 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Sociology

  University of Michigan

• Other

  Loma Linda University

Awards & honors

• Elected to the National Academy of Medicine (2001)
• Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2007)
• Elected to the National Academy of Sciences (2019)
• Distinguished contribution awards from the American Sociolog…
• Distinguished contribution awards from the American Psycholo…

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• Jarvis R. Givensh-43
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