John S. Williamson, Ph.D.

As a program officer at NCCAM, John S. Williamson, Ph.D., along with D. Craig Hopp, Ph.D., oversees the portfolio of grants relating to natural products and ethnomedicine. Dr. Williamson is also involved in administering the product integrity policy. This entails review and evaluation of proposed study materials to ensure they are safe and properly characterized.

Dr. Williamson received his B.S. degree in pharmacy from The University of Mississippi, his Ph.D. in medicinal and natural products from The University of Iowa, and postdoctoral training in microbial enzymology. Prior to joining NCCAM, for 23 years Dr. Williamson served as professor of medicinal chemistry and research professor of the National Center for Natural Products Research, and research professor of the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, at The University of Mississippi.

Dr. Williamson has numerous publications related to research, education, and teaching in his specialty areas of medicinal chemistry and natural products. His academic career interest focused on using new scientific technologies and methodologies to better understand the underlying chemical mechanisms that can be applied to the design and development of new chemotherapies. He especially enjoyed helping students identify research projects in which they could learn and gain the confidence of an independent investigator.