Biography

Spencer Williams is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne. He obtained his BSc and PhD (under the supervision of Professor Bob Stick) at the University of Western Australia (UWA). For 1998-2000 he was an Izaac Walton Killam Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Professor Stephen G Withers at theUniversity of British Columbia, Canada, where he worked on glycosidase inhibitors. For 2001-2002 he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation in the laboratory of Professor Carolyn Bertozzi, based at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Since July 2002 Spencer has been a member of the faculty in the School of Chemistry. His current interests include carbohydrate chemistry and biochemistry; metabolic pathways for organosulfur metabolic currencies, and medicinal chemistry. He has authored over 180 journal articles, 13 patents, 6 book chapters, and co-authored a textbook, Carbohydrates: The Essential Molecules of Life (RV Stick and SJ Williams, 2009, Elsevier). He is a co-founder of FibrotechTherapeutics (sold to Shire Plc in 2014), Certa, OccuRx, and TianLi, Melbourne-based biotechnology companies.

Curriculum vitae:

  • BSc (Hons) W.Aust. (1995);
  • PhD W.Aust. (conferred 2001);
  • Lecturer, University of Melbourne (2002);
  • Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne (2006);
  • Associate Professor & Reader (2012);
  • Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2014-2017);
  • Professor (2016).

Awards:

  • HG Smith Award (2021)
  • David Syme Research Prize (2014)
  • Grimwade Prize for Industrial Chemistry (2011)
  • Biota Award for Medicinal Chemistry (2010)
  • Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (2009)
  • Rennie Memorial Medal (2008)
  • Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research (2007)
  • RACI Organic Beckwith Lectureship (2005);
  • Selby Research Award (2002)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation, University of California at Berkeley (CR Bertozzi, 2001-2002)
  • Izaac Walton Killam Postdoctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia (SG Withers, 1998-2000)
  • Inaugural RACI Jim O’Donnell Travel Award (1996)