Stent technology saving thousands of lives
The oldest theater building in San Francisco, built before the earthquake in the 1880s, has an auditorium named the Ruth Williams Memorial Theater. She was one of a group of exceptionally dedicated community minded women who made the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood one of the best organized communities in the country during the 1950s and 1960s.
Back then, the naval shipyard was the major employment magnet. Now the area is a hub for biotechnology, with a new research campus and hospitals for the University of California-San Francisco.
Before any of those buildings broke ground, Eric Williams had set a course towards becoming one of the most important bioengineering pioneers of the past 20 years.
As co-founder of Advanced Stent Technologies, Williams designed a bifurcation stent and delivery systems for the treatment of coronary artery disease at the branch vessel of the heart.
Serving as executive vice president of research and operations, Williams gained the start-up funding for the venture, selected the management team, made all the intellectual property filings and developed the pre-clinical protocols for medical personnel and the Food and Drug Administration.
His success led to the acquisition of the company by Boston Scientific, where stents are now a billion dollar business category.
Williams holds 20 patents, with numerous additional patents pending.
Since 2005, he's joined Micrus Endovascular, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, to work on stents and coils for the treatment of hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes. Products include the Cashmere Coil and the Pharos Vitesse Stent.
As executive director of research and development, he's now in charge of all Micrus research in neurovascular access.
Williams is hoping to return to his native neighborhood in November for a history day on behalf of the rebuilding of the local branch library. He'll be joined by other science standouts who grew up in the community at the appropriately named George Washington Carver Elementary School. Williams plans to talk about his mother and the community organizing women in her circle.
