Pete Williams

Pete Williams

Professor | Docent
Visiting address: Eye Center of Excellence Avd Ögon & Syn, Eugeniavägen 12, 17164 Solna
Postal address: K8 Klinisk neurovetenskap, K8 Ögon och Syn Williams, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • I received my BSc. (Hons) (Biomedical Sciences – Neuroscience, 2009) and PhD (Visual Neuroscience and Molecular Biology, 2012) from Cardiff University. I trained with Prof. James Morgan and Prof. Marcela Votruba studying autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA, an inherited childhood neuropathy driven by mutations in OPA1), in addition to Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and glaucoma. Following a short collaborative period exploring retinal ganglion cell dendritic degeneration during early glaucoma pathogenesis I joined the laboratory of Prof. Simon John (HHMI/The Jackson Laboratory) as a postdoctoral fellow in 2012 focusing on the early mechanisms that influence retinal and optic nerve degeneration in glaucoma. In 2017 I received a faculty funded career position at Karolinska Institutet where I formally started my lab in 2018.

    Current appointments:
    2022 - Present: Ulla and Ingemar Dahlberg Professor in Vision Science, Dept. of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet
    2019 - Present: Research Group Leader, St Erik Eye Hospital
    2018 - Present: Research Group Leader - Glaucoma, Dept. of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet

    Other appointments:
    2022 - Present: Academic Coordinator for KI’s Collaborations with the United Kingdom
    2021 - Present: Founder/CEO, Mim Neurosciences AB

    Honorary appointments:

    2024 - Present: Honorary Researcher, Centre for Eye Research Australia, Melbourne, Australia

    2023 - Present: Honorary Professor, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, Wales, UK 

    Education:
    BSc. (Hons) Biomedical Sciences - Neuroscience, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Wales, UK (2009)
    PhD Vision Sciences (Visual Neuroscience and Molecular Biology), School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, Wales, UK (2012)
    Docent (Neuroscience), Karolinska Institutet (2021)

    Awards:
    - ARVO Foundation/Pfizer Ophthalmics Carl Camras Translational Research Award (2023)
    - Alcon Research Institute Young Investigator Award (2021)
    - Axel Hirsch Prize (2021)
    - 2021 Shaffer Prize for Innovation (2021)
    - Swedish Ophthalmologic Society Most Promising Researcher 2020 / SOE-lecturer 2020 (2019)
    - Excellence in Neuroscience Research award (Karolinska Institutet) (2019)
    - The Barbara and Joseph Cohen Young Investigator Award (2013)
    - European Association for Vision and Eye Research Best Paper in Category (Genetics) (2011)

Research

  • The Pete Williams Lab (petewilliamslab.com) uses the eye as a model of the central nervous system to elucidate early mechanisms of neurodegeneration. We utilize modern transcriptomic and molecular tools to delicately dissect pathways pertaining to early aging and neurodegenerative disease mechanisms and to identify potential therapeutic targets which we then test and verify in animal and cell models of neurodegeneration. We work with clinicians to develop novel protective strategies that will benefit human health, aging, and disease.

    Glaucoma is a complex, multifactorial disease affecting an estimated 80 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of irreversible blindness. It is a significant health and economic burden at both individual and societal level. Age, genetics, and high intraocular pressure (IOP) are all considerable risk factors. Despite strategies to manage IOP, >40% of treated glaucoma patients will progress to blindness. Neuroprotective treatments for glaucoma are of great therapeutic need. The Pete Williams Lab is developing new neuroprotective treatments for glaucoma, from bench-to-bedside.

    The overarching theme of the Pete Williams Lab is to explore how bioenergetic insufficiency drives neurodegeneration and to identify novel neuroprotective therapies based on these data.

    Glaucoma is characterized by the progressive dysfunction and loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). RGCs are the output neurons of the retina, the axons of which become the optic nerve before integrating with key visual centers in the brain. Axon and dendritic degeneration are core components of glaucomatous neurodegeneration. RGCs sit on a metabolic knife-edge during times of stress that may be exacerbated by aging, genetic risk, and elevated IOP. During these periods, the viability of RGCs is reliant on mitochondria and supportive glia to maintain homeostasis and bioenergetic needs. Emerging research suggests that a systemic vulnerability to mitochondrial and metabolic abnormalities exists in glaucoma patients. Genomic analysis has demonstrated increased mitochondrial DNA content and a spectrum of mitochondrial DNA mutations in glaucoma patients. These abnormalities are also present in leukocytes, suggesting a systemic susceptibility to metabolic defects. Such systemic susceptibility is expected to increase glaucoma susceptibility with age.

    Only strategies to lower IOP have been translated to the clinic and these therapeutics do not treat the neurodegenerative component of glaucoma. Patient adherence is variable and too many patients are subject to surgical interventions because of progressive damage. In addition, many patients are refractory to pressure lowering treatments and progress to blindness despite low pressures. So far, search for a treatment that targets RGCs and arrests progression, has a low side effect profile, and is cost-effective has been unsuccessful. Neuroprotective treatments for glaucoma are of great therapeutic need. Our research explores how this bioenergetic insufficiency drives neurodegeneration and identifies novel neuroprotective therapies based on these findings.

    Major Current Research Theme: Neuronal NAD+ metabolism
    NAD supplementation protects from bioenergetic insufficiency in glaucoma. We have previously discovered metabolic dysfunction and mitochondrial abnormalities occurring prior to neurodegeneration in glaucoma (in glaucoma patients and animal models). A key finding of these studies identified that NAD (an essential REDOX cofactor and metabolite) declines in the retina in an age-dependent manner and renders RGCs susceptible to glaucoma-related stresses, driving neurodegeneration. Preventing NAD depletion via administration of nicotinamide (NAM, the amide of vitamin B₃, an NAD precursor) or through gene therapy (Nmnat1 or Nmnat2, terminal enzymes or NAD production) robustly protects from age-related neuronal metabolic decline and prevents glaucoma in chronic animal models. Supporting a hypothesis in which pathogenically low NAD leads to glaucoma susceptibility, glaucoma patients have been demonstrated to have systemically low levels of nicotinamide (in sera), and we, as part of a multi-national collaborative clinical trial, have demonstrated that nicotinamide administration can restore visual function in existing glaucoma patients. Our continued work with nicotinamide exemplifies the lab’s commitment to developing translational neuroprotective strategies, from bench-to-bedside.

    Ongoing Research Themes:
    Mitochondria
    We use a variety of novel reporter mice, mitochondrial markers, and live/vital dyes to image and analyze mitochondria at ultra-high resolution in healthy, disease, and treated states.

    Neuronal Metabolism
    We use targeted assays, targeted and enriched mass. spec. protocols, and high resolution untargeted metabolomics to identify novel disease pathways and candidate biomarkers in glaucoma.

    Gene Therapies
    Viral gene therapy has been successful in a handful of rare, monogenic ophthalmic diseases. We are expanding this work to develop gene therapies targeting common neurodegenerative pathways.

    Neuroinflammation
    Neuroinflammation within the retina and optic nerve may be a critical pathogenic event in early glaucoma. Our research explores microglia activation throughout the visual system in glaucoma.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2026
    2.2 billion people live with visual impairment and blindness worldwide. Only ~50% of these cases are directly preventable which highlights the need to further develop and advance treatments for ophthalmic diseases. Even within nations with developed and accessible healthcare systems visual impairments are prevalent
    especially from ocular neurodegenerations which are compounded by an ever-increasing aged global population. There is a pressing need to address these diseases and to develop new diagnostic techniques and new therapeutic avenues.The goal of this VR research program is to develop clinically translatable neuroprotective strategies for glaucoma and other age-related ophthalmic neurodegenerative diseases by focusing on NAD metabolism. My team will use –omics technologies, super-resolution imaging, animal and human clinical samples, and novel pharmacology to develop clinically translational neuroprotective strategies.Specifically, this program will:Target NAD-metabolism to develop new long-term neuroprotective strategies based on gene therapy and small molecule pharmacology, and,Test their specificity utilizing mammalian and nematode genetics,Assess metabolic disruption in glaucoma patient samples and in treated patients to identify additional routes to neuroprotection.The combination of these themes will identify the molecular underpinnings of neurodegeneration in glaucoma and lead to novel therapeutic strategies for age-related ophthalmic neurodegenerative disease.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2019 - 31 December 2022

Employments

  • Professor, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 2025-
  • Senior Lecturer, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-2025

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2021

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