Who was Dr Nolan R. Williams? Stanford University psychiatry professor passes away

Nolan R. Hiram king williams, a prof of psychological medicine and behavioural scientific discipline at Stanford University, passed away on October 8, his wife Kristin Raj confirmed in a statement on Sunday, October 12. He is known for his role in developing the SAINT therapy used in depression treatment.

Though the statement did not mention Williams' cause of death, friends and associates confirmed that he took his own life. According to a Substack eulogy for Nolan Williams, written by fellow psychiatrist and “friend” Owen Scott Muir, the coroner has confirmed his cause of death as suicide. Muir noted that Williams' lab was notified that it was a suicide on the morning of October 10, Friday. Williams is survived by his wife, their two children, his mother and brother.

Dr. Nolan Williams was a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and the Director of the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab. He worked on technologies and therapeutics aimed at mood disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other neuropsychiatric conditions. His work focused on neuroimaging-based approaches to precisely target therapeutic delivery and predict treatment responses.

Williams earned his M.D. And completed dual residencies in neurology and psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina. Over the past decade, Williams’ lab, alongside collaborators at Stanford, pioneered multiple novel therapeutic approaches in neuroscience.

Most notably, he helped develop Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT), a magnetic pulse-based treatment for severe depression. SAINT received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation in 2021 and FDA clearance in 2022, becoming the first psychiatric treatment covered by Medicare’s New Technology Add-On Payment.

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His research earned international recognition, including awards from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Society of Biological Psychiatry, the Brain Behavior Research Foundation, and others. His work has been featured in publications such as Scientific American, The New York Times, and on CBS Sunday Morning.

In her eulogy, his wife Kristin Raj described Williams as “the rock who made me feel safe in the world, and my partner in all endeavors for a decade” and an “extraordinary neuroscientist and physician whose work has transformed the field of mental health.”

She added, “I hold on to the knowledge that he lives on not only through the light in our children, but also through the countless lives he has touched and will touch, and save through his work.”

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or chat via 988lifeline.org for free.

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