Our Director
Sarah Williams-Blangero, Ph.D.
Professor
Director, South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute
Sarah Williams-Blangero is a genetic epidemiologist with over 30 years of experience in research on the genetic determinants of differential susceptibility to complex diseases, particularly in minority populations. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from Case Western Reserve University in 1987. Dr. Williams-Blangero joined the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (now the Texas Biomedical Research Institute) as a postdoctoral scientist in the Department of Genetics in 1987. After being promoted through the ranks to the level of Scientist, she was Chair of the Department of Genetics at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute for 15 years and also served for 2 years as the Deputy Director of the Southwest National Primate Research Center that was based at Texas Biomed. She has served as a standing member of two NIH study sections and has served on an ad hoc basis on numerous other review panels. As a Principal Investigator, Dr. Williams-Blangero has generated over $25 million in NIH funding to support her research. A leader in the conduct of human population studies, Dr. Williams-Blangero has developed research sites in Nepal and Brazil that have been active for over 30 years and over 20 years respectively. She has published more than 120 papers in the scientific literature. Dr. Williams-Blangero was recruited to be the Founding Director of the South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute in 2014.