Dr Ivan Williams

Dr Ivan Williams is the Chief Medical Radiation Scientist and Medical Radiation Branch Head within the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA). He is an internationally recognised and nationally certified expert in radiation oncology, medical physics and medical radiation protection.

Dr Williams trained as a medical physicist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, leaving after a decade to pursue a PhD in phase contrast imaging in mammography, utilising conventional sources and synchrotrons. Upon completing his doctorate, Dr Williams moved to St Luke’s Hospital, in Dublin, Ireland as Principal Physicist, where he worked for almost two years.

Dr Williams returned to Australia as the inaugural Director of the Australian Clinical Dosimetry Service (ACDS) within ARPANSA, which he established as a nationally impacting service with international recognition. He was appointed as Branch Head, Medical Radiation Service, in 2016 where he has oversight of the national primary standards in ionizing radiation, diagnostic reference levels and the ACDS. The ARPANSA laboratories underpin every radiotherapy and diagnostic procedure in Australia. Dr Williams has managed and delivered projects ranging from national regulatory programs to the complex building renovations required to install significant items of scientific equipment.

Dr Williams is particularly passionate about the appropriate use of resources and information to improve and protect patient and public health. He was appointed to the International Commission on Radiological Protection, Committee 3: Radiation Protection in Medicine, in 2021. He is also a Board Member for the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine.