Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Pete Williams wants to find new ways of treating this disease by protecting and restoring nerve cells in the eye. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year's installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 9 October.
Text: Karin Tideström, for KI's installation ceremony booklet 2025
What are you researching?
"My research group is developing new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, a group of diseases characterised by the degradation and death of brain neurons. Our main focus is glaucoma, an eye disease that can cause blindness. Our current studies are focusing on metabolism within the eye and we are designing new treatments based on this."
Why is this important?
"Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Despite treatment, many patients progress to blindness in at least one eye, highlighting the need for new, improved therapies."
How are you going about this?
"In glaucoma, a special type of neuron called the retinal ganglion cell becomes dysfunctional and degenerates. The retinal ganglion cells make the connection between the eye and the brain and their degeneration leads to this irreversible vision loss. We are designing therapies that target these neurons to either protect them from further degeneration or even regenerate them."
What are your main results to date?
"We've identified important metabolic pathways in the eye that make the retinal ganglion cells susceptible to degeneration in glaucoma. We've used this information to identify new therapeutic targets and to make new drug and gene therapies that protect and regenerate these neurons. Our aim is to take our findings from the lab to the patients. The next step is to develop our existing ideas and treatments into genuine clinical alternatives."
About Pete Williams
Professor of Vision Science at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience
Pete Williams was born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1987. He studied for his BSc in Biomedical Science specialising in Neuroscience at Cardiff University in 2009, earning a PhD in Vision Sciences at Cardiff University in 2012. He then went on to work in the USA and Sweden. His group is currently situated at St Erik Eye Hospital in Solna. He is research group leader for glaucoma, and academic coordinator for KI's collaborations with the United Kingdom. Pete Williams was appointed Professor at Karolinska Institutet on 1 July 2025.
