Andrew Williams

You can connect with Dr. Williams on LinkedIn

Dr. Williams is a forensic pathologist and the Program Director of the University of Toronto Forensic Pathology Residency Training Program. He is actively engaged in medical education, including local and national postgraduate medical education accreditation roles. His academic interests include forensic imaging, postmortem toxicology, and medical expert testimony.

Dr. Williams completed his BMSc (Honors Specialization in Pharmacology and Toxicology, 2007) and earned his MD (2011) from Western University. He then undertook residencies in Anatomical Pathology at Dalhousie University (2016) and Forensic Pathology at the University of Toronto (2017). He later completed a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy at the University of Zürich, Switzerland (2020).

Dr. Williams supervises and teaches forensic pathology residents, clinical fellows, and other medical learners during their rotations at the Provincial Forensic Pathology Unit. He delivers invited lectures to diverse professional audiences.

Research focus

Dr. Williams’ current areas of research interest include three primary themes:

1. Advanced postmortem cross-sectional imaging - evaluating how these technologies can be applied reliably to support medicolegal investigations of death
2. Postmortem toxicology - integrating toxicology results into forensic decision-making, particularly in cause-of-death determination
3. Expert witness opinions - examining expert evidence and the intersection of forensic pathology and the judicial system

Selected publications

Venettacci O, Pawlowicz B, Somers GR, Williams AS, Maratta C. Pediatric Bathtub Drownings in Ontario from 2003 to 2022: A Case Series. Hosp Pediatr. 2025 Jan 1;15(1):e21-e25.

Aschner A, Keller A, Williams AS, Whitney R, Cunningham K, Hamilton RM, Pollanen M, Donner E. Cardiac Arrhythmia and Epilepsy Genetic Variants in Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. Front Neurol. 2024 May 2;15:1386730.

Button L, Williams AS, Lamparter C, Woodall KL. Opioid-related deaths in Ontario correctional facilities and penitentiaries (2009-2019). Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2023 Sep;19(3):357-363

Williams AS, Greer W, Bethune D, Craddock K, Flowerdew G, Xu Z. ALK+ lung adenocarcinoma in never smokers and long-term ex-smokers: prevalence and detection by immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization. Virchows Archiv. 2016 Nov;469(5):533-540. doi: 10.1007/s00428-016-2005-y.

Williams AS, Shawwa A, Merrimen J, Dakin Haché K. Expression of OCT4 and SALL4 in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: an analysis of 145 consecutive cases and testicular lymphomas. Am J Surg Pathol. 2016 Jul;40(7):950-7. doi: 10.1097/PAS.0000000000000648.

Williams AS, Dakin Haché K. Recognition and discrimination of tissue marking dye color by surgical pathologists – recommendations to avoid errors in margin assessment. Am J Clin Pathol. 2014 Sep;142(3):355-61. doi: 10.1309/AJCPOXRMK15VCQTR.

Williams AS, Huang WY. The analysis of microsatellite instability in extracolonic gastrointestinal malignancy. Pathology. 2013;45(6):540-52. doi: 10.1097/PAT.0b013e3283653307.

Sharmin S, Guan H, Williams A, Yang K. Caffeine reduces 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 expression in human trophoblast cells through the adenosine A(2B) receptor. PLoS ONE. 2012;7(6): e38082. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038082.

Selected autopsy and forensic pathology-related case reports

Gershon A, Little D, Ball CG, Williams AS. Fatal secondary aortoduodenal fistula diagnosed with postmortem computed tomography angiography. Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2020 Sep;16(3):515-518. doi: 10.1007/s12024-020-00256-x. Epub 2020 May 11. PMID: 32394207.

MacNeil JAB, Selegean S, Williams AS. Metastatic lobular carcinoma presenting as retroperitoneal fibrosis: a rare presentation detected using post-mortem cytology. Pathology. 2020 Apr;52(3):387-390. doi: 10.1016/j.pathol.2019.12.004.

Williams AS, Castonguay M, Murray SK. Aortic intimal separation resulting from manual cardiopulmonary resuscitation – completing the spectrum of blunt thoracic aortic injury complicating CPR. Int J Legal Med. 2016 Nov;130(6):1581-1585. doi: 10.1007/s00414-016-1377-5.

Williams AS, Bowes MJ. Metal dust deposition in a shotgun wound associated with barrel modification. Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2016 Mar;12(1):90-4. doi: 10.1007/s12024-015-9736-y.

Williams AS, Little D, Herath J. Sudden unexpected death as a result of primary aortoduodenal fistula identified with postmortem computed tomography. Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2015 Dec;11(4):596-600. doi: 10.1007/s12024-015-9719-z.

Other selected articles

Williams AS, Bullock MJ. Spiral bodies in pulse granulomas are remnant plant vascular structures. Pathology. 2015 Oct;47(6):599-601. doi: 10.1097/PAT.0000000000000312.

Williams AS, Dakin Haché K. Variable fidelity of tissue-marking dyes in surgical pathology. Histopathology. 2014 May;64(6):896-900. doi: 10.1111/his.12328.

Appointments

Program Director, Forensic Pathology Residency Training Program, University of Toronto

Fellow-at-Large, Residency Accreditation Committee (ResAC), Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada

Honours and awards

Clinical Teaching Excellence in Fellowship Teaching Award (2023), Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology, University of Toronto