Nolan Williams
@NolanRyWilliams
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Associate Professor, Stanford University. Director of @Stanford_BSL at @StanfordMed. Neurologist, Psychiatrist, Neuroscientist, Inventor.
Joined June 2009
Encouraging data in @APAPubJournals from our double-blinded RCT evaluating Stanford Neuromodulation Therapy (SNT) for treatment-resistant #depression. After 5 days, 79% in the active group experienced remission from depression compared to 13% in sham.
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Psych News Alert: FDA Clears Novel, Rapid-Acting TMS System for Treatment-Resistant Depression:
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@FutureJurvetson @FUSFoundation @UCSF We have @NIHFunding to use FUS to release ketamine from nano particles into the anterior cingulate in humans. Hoping to start in 2024.
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Our new open-label trial suggests safety, feasibility, and high efficacy for treatment-refractory OCD of an accelerated, fMRI-guided, high-dose, cTBSmod protocol targeting right frontal pole. @brainstimj @EleanorJCole @Stanford_PMHW @CRodriguezMDPhD
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The time has come for rTMS to move up on the treatment algorithm.
1st trial comparing TMS to other augmentation strategies for MDD. Spoiler: TMS outperformed switch to venlafaxine, while Abilify augmentation (the only strategy that's ever been shown to be superior to others) did not.
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Super proud of my post doc, Azeezat Azeez, who received a travel fellowship to present our Saint imaging data here @winter_brain
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Our new research published in @PNASNews indicates SAINT therapy is effective because it helps to reverse the direction of signaling within #brain networks involved in emotion regulation. Thank you @BBRFFoundation for the informative coverage.
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Once again, I am truly honored to be recognized by the @BBRFoundation list of Leading Research Achievements a second time in the same year. This recognition of our groundbreaking work on SAINT as a rapid-acting treatment for bipolar depression is extremely important to me. We had
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The bigger question is why even consider medication for first line when rTMS has a better side effect profile?.
Just out in AJP: rTMS as a Next Step in Antidepressant Nonresponders: A Randomized Comparison With Current Antidepressant Treatment Approaches. TMS was 5.5X more likely to result in remission relative to the next medication step after 2 failed treatments (27 vs 5% remission).
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Advancing Rapid Treatments for #Depression: a thread on SAINT therapy presented at the BrainMind Summit. 1/5.
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Truly honored to be recognized as a @BBRFoundation Colvin Prize Winner for Outstanding Achievement in Mood Disorders Research last week at the International Mental Health Research Symposium. Thank you BBRF for the honor and recognition. @Stanford_BSL
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Thanks for the great conversation, @NatashaFatah!.
New Treatment for Depression:. A new therapy using brain stimulation and neuromodulation found 80% of participants saw their severe depression go into remission. Dr. @NolanRyWilliams is the Director of @Stanford_BSL .
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Many thanks to @CBSSunday for a great interview. I would also like to thank the team that have worked so very hard to make SAINT a reality (@EleanorJCole, @BrandonBentzley, @Stanford_BSL). @standfordmed @Stanford @StanfordPSY .
Depression remains the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting almost 300 million people, half of whom can't find lasting relief from drugs or therapy. However, a new experimental treatment seems to be hopeful
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Honored to be a guest of @iraflatow on @scifri discussing the rapid acting SAINT therapy for severe depression. You can listen to the segment here.
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From my feature with @hubermanlab: the effectiveness and significance of consolidating a typical TMS treatment timeline into a shorter period. Shrinking the overall therapeutic cycle proved to have much more significant results than a prolonged course of treatment.
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I am honored that our work has been listed among the top achievements at @StanfordMed for the second year in a row! @Stanford_BSL @StanfordBrain .
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Incredibly rewarding to see SAINT therapy demonstrate promise for reducing depressive symptoms of bipolar 1 disorder in an open label, feasibility and safety trial. Congratulations to lead author, Kevin Li, M.D. at Johns Hopkins. Read more in @PsychTimes:.
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Humbled to be recognized as a @BBRFoundation Colvin Prize Winner for Outstanding Achievement in Mood Disorders Research in this year's International Mental Health Research Symposium. @Stanford_BSL #Bipolar #Depression #MoodDisorders.
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Thank you for sharing these important resources @tferriss. It was an honor to sit down with you earlier to discuss the new frontiers of mental health.
Highlighting mental health is important to me for deeply personal reasons. Treatment-resistant depression, bipolar disorder, and addiction run in my family. I’ve lost multiple friends to suicide and almost committed suicide in college. Opioids and alcohol have claimed the lives.
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Thanks, @NatMentHealth for putting us on the cover.
🌟It is our 1st anniversary!🌟. We start 2024 🍾 by bringing a diverse collection of articles exploring #anxiety, #psychosis, #depression, #pain disorders, #cognition, #dementia & many more!🌿. Cover art by @Marina_C_Spence. 👇.
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New research is providing additional evidence of the signals of efficacy and safety of SAINT, a rapid-acting non-invasive brain stimulation therapy, to treat people suffering from #bipolar #depression (excerpt below via @BBRFoundation)
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The @Stanford_BSL Brain Stimulation Lab is inviting applications for a postdoctoral fellow position. Our lab focuses on advancing the understanding of brain function & its modulation through non-invasive & invasive stimulation techniques. More info & how to apply:. 🧵1/11.
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I'm deeply honored to be featured in the @BBRFoundation list of Leading Research Achievements for our study, published in @NatureMedicine. Our team of researchers at the @Stanford_BSL evaluated 30 Special Operations Veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and repeated blast
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Honored to have chaired Symposium 1F: Advancing Precision Neuromodulation in Mood Disorders at the 6th Annual International Brain Stimulation Conference in Kobe, Japan. The session covered topics such as the efficacy, biomarkers, and long-term maintenance of SAINT in depression,
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It is a true privilege to be among such highly esteemed leaders in Neuroscience research. Thank you @BBRFoundation!
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Join me and my esteemed colleagues on October 25th for a presentation on leading research discoveries across brain and behavior disorders. 9am-12:30pm EDT. Register for the International Mental Health Research Symposium here:
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Tribeca Film About Ibogaine--A New Treatment For Addiction And PTSD?
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As #TED2025 approaches, I'm feeling increasingly excited about joining the incredible lineup at "Humanity Reimagined" in Vancouver (April 7-11). Grateful for the opportunity to share ideas on such a renowned stage. More info here ⬇️.
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Neuropsychiatric conditions can impact everyone. Another noteworthy excerpt from my discussion with @hubermanlab: the implications of developing technologies to treat acute forms of #depression in hospital settings and emergency departments.
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Thanks for the great chat, @andreashorn_. For those interested, here are our three publications for the SAINT/SNT approach: .1.2.3.
With @NolanRyWilliams we talk about the SAINT protocol that led to remission in 19 of 21 participants w/ depression after a single week of (intensive) transcranial magnetic stimulation. Guest questions by @foxmdphd & @shansiddiqi! . Tune in 🎧🔈🎶💫💥:
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New interview: I recently sat down with @seankelly25 and shared clinical data on SAINT. Listen to the full episode at #depression #mooddisorders.
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I was thrilled to wake up this morning and see that our SAINT study was featured on national news! Thank you to @VickyNguyenTV and the team at @TODAYshow on @NBC for highlighting how this technology is already helping patients. NBC interviewed, Chase,.
@VickyNguyenTV Stanford researchers share this remarkable new treatment for treatment-resistant depression.
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We are on CBS Sunday Morning this Sunday. Please RT and spread the word. @APAPubJournals @StanfordPSY @Stanford @StanfordMed.
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‘But I’m proudest of the fact that I didn’t listen when everyone — and I mean everyone — told me “That Will Never Work.”’.
26 years ago today - on April 14th, 1998, at 8am in the morning, Eric Meyer leaned forward, tapped a few keys on his laptop, and launched #Netflix to the world. That first day was a long one. We crashed our servers. Ran out of mailing labels. Scrambled to get everything to the
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Excited to be among this amazing speaker program at TED 2025. Check out the incredible lineup: #TED2025 #HumanityReimagined
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Standing room only for @BrandonBentzley, Andrew Geoly and Jorge Almeida speaking about SAINT.
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This past August, I had the privilege of presenting at the BrainMind Special Forum in Neuromodulation/BCI/AI. Watch to learn more about my approach to treating severe depression using individualized transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS):.
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Thanks, @maxdkozlov for covering our work.
Military veterans with cognitive and psychological problems saw drastic improvements in PTSD after a dose of the potent drug ibogaine
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‘Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.’ Albert Einstein.
Is it possible to help a billion depression patients with brain stimulation? @JonathanDownar says yes, but only if we follow the example of @elonmusk @SpaceX and simplify the process. Great talk @Brain_Circuits
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Woohoo.
Theta-burst stim (TBS) is used to treat depression, but how does it work? I dug into this question in my research yr with @DrCoreyKeller @ACPaulk, now out in @NatureComms, finding that TBS can produce plasticity-like changes in just minutes of stim.
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Thank you, @OneMindOrg!.
🎉One Mind Bipolar Research Awardee @NolanRyWilliams recently received tenure @StanfordMed. Congratulations Dr. Williams!
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New study in @CellReports: @virginia_tech researchers demonstrate neurotransmitter responses to emotional language processing. Results show complex dopamine, serotonin & norepinephrine patterns, suggesting evolutionary adaptation of survival circuits.
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Yup.
INTERVENTIONAL PSYCHIATRY | A rapid-response major depressive disorder therapy, with a 2-week response rate of 50%—a considerable improvement over current treatments—could mitigate the economic strain of #MDD by $29 billion in 2023. #Psychiatry #PsychX
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They caught me on film!.
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We did it.
Re: addictive potential of ket. I know pppl who recovered from opioid/alc use, but are treading water with compulsive ket use that makes them delusional & incapacitated. Any human studies with ket + opioid antag. in the works? Is it too aversive or ineffective? We need to know 🙏.
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Absolutely spot on.
Easiest job in medicine- criticizing clinical trials. Hardest job - actually running one.
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Thanks, Michael.
Important new paper: Magnesium–ibogaine therapy in veterans with traumatic brain injuries | Nature Medicine
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“Difficult to Treat Depression: Focus on Approach, Algorithms, and Access” is currently the leading article on @PsychiatristCNS. Honored to work on it with Drs. Karp, Brinton, Fournier, Harding, Jha, Lenze, Mathew, Meltzer-Brody, Mohr, Riva-Posse, and Wiechers.
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.@Stanford_BSL has been awarded a 2025Neuroscience:Translate grant from the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute! In collaboration with Juan Rivas-Davila and the Stanford University Power Electronics Research Lab, we're developing… (1/2).
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Research indicates a new fast-acting major #depression treatment is effective because it helps to reverse the direction of signaling within an important #brain network that is likely out of synch.
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Here is a great story of one of the SAINT patients. @standfordmed @StanfordPSY @Stanford @Stanford_BSL @StanfordBrain .
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@andreashorn_ @stimbrains The neuromodulation community is outgrowing the artificial divide between two medical specialties rooted in centuries of history rather than created from logic….
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The more rapid acting the treatment, the more one can reduce time for regression to the mean to happen allowing for greater differences between groups. .
Incredibly, the placebo effect is (mostly) not real. It is a result of statistical confusion. Whenever you have a group with extreme values, they tend to exhibit regression to the mean. Eg. on average, sick people tend to become more healthy over time. Thus if you give one
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Watch the full presentation on this new approach here:.4/5.
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Inspiring day at the @KaizenBrainCtr in La Jolla, marking the arrival of the SAINT neuromodulation system. Great to connect with Drs. Ahmed and Nebrosky and discuss how SAINT effectively treats people with treatment-resistant major depression.
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In testing our SAINT protocol, we saw an average of 2.6 days to transition people from a pretty bad state to well. Thanks for having me, @seankelly25.
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Contract Supports Research into Personalized Treatments for Depression Check out Dr. Liston's contribution to the 2021 NPP Reviews issue: @WeillCornell @npp_journal
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@shansiddiqi @MarkLRuffalo ‘We must recollect that all of our provisional ideas in psychology will presumably one day be based on an organic substructure.’.Sigmund Freud, “On Narcissism”.
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Thanks, @FutureJurvetson!.
Imagine acute therapies with ~80% remission rates for depression (rapid-TMS) as well as PTSD, opiate addiction and neurological conditions like Traumatic Brain Injury (Ibogaine + Magnesium). Nolan discusses both with Genevieve at Brain-Mind NY:.
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Thank you, @gjurvetson!.
I had the honor of interviewing @NolanRyWilliams at the BrainMind Summit in NYC. Nolan, who leads Stanford's Brain Stimulation Lab, is a true trailblazer in mental health, with expertise in fast-acting psychiatric treatments like neuromodulation and psychedelics. If you haven’t
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Thanks, @JAMA_current.
Medical News in Brief: Psychedelic Tied to Better Function in Veterans With Head Injuries .
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Excited as @shansiddiqi kicks off the brain stimulation subspecialty submit #BRASSS @Brain_Circuits @harvardmed @BrighamWomens
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It was an amazing course, @Brainclinics!.
Today concluded the Brainclinics Foundation TMS Masterclass and Certification course, I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot. Thanks a lot to all attendees for a great interaction and a special thanks to a great speaker line-up: @NolanRyWilliams Dirk de Ridder,
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Excited to have you join us, @Brainclinics !.
My Sabbatical.I am excited to share a personal and transformative decision I have made – I’m embarking on a sabbatical for an extended time. It is time to reinvent myself, explore new opportunities and gain fresh perspectives on the exciting field of interventional.
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Thrilled for our work to be listed as leading research achievements X2! @BBRFoundation @Stanford @StanfordBrain @StanfordMed
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Great new issue of @NatMentHealth out now on the future of machine learning in mental health research. Read their editorial piece to learn more about how this technique is being harnessed to drive developments in the field:
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