Dr. Brie Williams is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Health Equity & Society at UCSF and a physician trained in internal medicine, geriatrics and palliative care. She directs Amend at UCSF and co-directs the Aging Research In Criminal Justice Health (ARCH) Network. Her work focuses on transforming prison culture to focus on the health of residents and staff, dignity and humanity, and on bringing the science of geriatrics and palliative care to criminal justice reform. She collaborates with colleagues from diverse disciplines (including prison leaders and staff, community based organizations, and the law) to develop innovative programs that reduce harm in US prisons and to conduct impact-oriented research and education.

Dr. Williams' clinical research has called for improved responses to disability, cognitive impairment, and symptom distress in older or seriously ill incarcerated persons; a better understanding of the occupational health and training needs of prison staff; a more heath-focused approach to eliminating the use of solitary confinement and reducing its harms; a more scientific approach to compassionate release policies; and a broader inclusion of incarcerated people in national health datasets and in clinical research designed to improve their care. Dr. Williams has served as a member of multiple national initiatives, including the Workshop on Incarceration and Health sponsored by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and the Urban Institute’s Research in Penal Institutions. Her research has been supported by the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, the Schusterman Family Foundation, Arnold Ventures, the National Palliative Care Research Center, the National Institute on Aging, the UC Office of the President, and the Cambia Foundation, among others.

Dr. Williams directs Amend, a training and leadership development program that draws on public health, medical ethics, occupational health, international human rights and prison practices from Norway and beyond to inspire and educate U.S. prison leaders, staff and policy makers to immediately address dehumanizing conditions that perpetuate trauma, violence, and health inequities among residents and staff in U.S. prisons. She is also a founding co-director of the Aging Research in Criminal Justice Network, funded by the National Institute on Aging, which has created a research network of over 200 academic and community members in the US to expand research at the intersection of aging and criminal legal system involvement.

Dr. Williams has served as a consultant to jails, prisons, and legal organizations nationwide, including for the Federal Receiver of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the National ACLU. She has participated as an expert witness in several lawsuits related to the adverse health effects of solitary confinement. In 2016, Dr. Williams provided expert testimony to the US Sentencing Commission on proposed changes to Compassionate Release policies, recommendations which were later incorporated into the First Step Act.