OBITUARY

21 October 2026

Researcher and policy adviser who championed tests and treatments for genetic diseases.

By

Kay E. Davies Kay E. Davies is Dr Lee’s Professor of Anatomy emeritus at the University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. She was a research fellow with Williamson at St Mary’s Hospital.

Credit: Prudence Cuming Associates/The Royal Society

Robert (Bob) Williamson was a geneticist who dedicated his career to the identification of disease-linked genes and the diagnosis and treatment of single-gene disorders. He was concerned about the ethical implications of population-wide genetic screening and using stem cells in research. Williamson was one of the first to use DNA markers to locate the position of important human disease-associated genes on chromosomes. He mapped the location of genes linked to cystic fibrosis (CF) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).…