Dr Anna Williams is a researcher and lecturer in addiction sciences at King’s College London. She is the Programme leader of the International Master of Science in Addiction Studies (IPAS) and an expert in distance learning.  Background in Psychology (BSc) and Psychiatry (MSc), with expertise in Addiction Science (PhD). She is currently involved in research in the area of drug-related deaths, teaching and training activities via distance learning.

Dr Williams graduated as a psychologist in Brazil, where she also completed her MSc in Psychiatry under the supervision of Prof. Pechansky. Her research in Brazil focused on the development of psychosocial interventions and assessing HIV risk exposure among crack-cocaine users living in shantytowns. She has a PhD in Addiction Science which she completed at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience under the supervision of Prof. Strang and Prof. Marsden. Her PhD project focused on delivering a harm reduction intervention to reduce mortality among heroin users. The intervention, tested through a multisite RCT, was the distribution of naloxone for service users and their family members. This intervention has been endorsed by the WHO and her PhD work has been published in high impact scientific journals. She has also offered support to the establishment of a number of take-home naloxone programmes in the United Kingdom. Dr Williams is also an expert in developing valid and reliable measures, having developed two scales during her PhD (Opioid Overdose Knowledge and Attitudes Scales). More recently Dr. Williams has acted as an external consulted for the World Health Organisation (on overdose management and on the updated of the mhGAP) and also for the United Nations Office for Drug and Crime (looking at the link between HIV and stimulant drugs). Dr Williams maintains international collaborations with universities in Brazil and the United States. She is also a reviewer for several main journals in the Addictions field.   She is currently involved in research in the area of drug-related deaths, teaching and training activities via distance learning.