
Grace Williams
Research Associate II
Grace has been with the Allen Institute for Brain Science for five years as a Research Associate in the Neuroanatomy department. As part of the Morphology team, she reconstructs 3D models of neurons in cortical and subcortical regions of the mouse and human brain. The features generated from these reconstructions are analyzed for use in the Cell Types project. This project aims to establish multi-modal categories of brain cells, using morphological, electrophysiological, and transcriptomic data. Grace also provides reconstructions and expert neuroanatomy consultation for other projects at the Allen Institute, as well for external collaborators. She graduated from Oberlin College with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience.

Research
Research Interests
Grace has contributed over 400 gold-standard neuron reconstructions to the Allen Institute. Her most recent publication, “Integrated Morphoelectric and Transcriptomic Classification of Cortical GABAergic Cells,” was the featured primary article in Cell magazine for November 2020. She provides reconstructions and neuroanatomy consultation for such Allen projects as the NIH BRAIN Initiative, EM Connectomics, and Synaptic Physiology. She also works with external collaborators, including the citizen science program Mozak Brainbuilder. Grace’s primary research interests include neuroanatomy, sensory neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and imaging. In her free time, she also dabbles in botany and scientific illustration.
Expertise
- Neuroanatomy
- Data Quality Control
- Imaging
Research Programs
- Structured Science
- Cell Types
- Neuroanatomy
- NIH Brain Initiative
- EM Connectomics
- Synaptic Physiology
- Imaging
- CCF
- Vaa3D
Selected Publications
Local connectivity and synaptic dynamics in mouse and human neocortex
Science
March 11, 2022
Campagnola L, Seeman SC, Chartrand T, Kim L, Hoggarth A, Gamlin C, Ito S, Trinh J, Davoudian P, Radaelli C, Kim MH, Hage T, Braun T, Alfiler L, Andrade J, Bohn P, Dalley R, Henry A, Kebede S, Alice M, Sandman D, Williams G, Larsen R, Teeter C, Daigle TL, Berry K, Dotson N, Enstrom R, Gorham M, Hupp M, Dingman Lee S, Ngo K, Nicovich PR, Potekhina L, Ransford S, Gary A, Goldy J, McMillen D, Pham T, Tieu M, Siverts L, Walker M, Farrell C, Schroedter M, Slaughterbeck C, Cobb C, Ellenbogen R, Gwinn RP, Keene CD, Ko AL, Ojemann JG, Silbergeld DL, Carey D, Casper T, Crichton K, Clark M, Dee N, Ellingwood L, Gloe J, Kroll M, Sulc J, Tung H, Wadhwani K, Brouner K, Egdorf T, Maxwell M, McGraw M, Pom CA, Ruiz A, Bomben J, Feng D, Hejazinia N, Shi S, Szafer A, Wakeman W, Phillips J, Bernard A, Esposito L, D'Orazi FD, Sunkin S, Smith K, Tasic B, Arkhipov A, Sorensen S, Lein E, Koch C, Murphy G, Zeng H, Jarsky T
Human neocortical expansion involves glutamatergic neuron diversification
Nature
October 6, 2021
Berg J, Sorensen SA, Ting JT, Miller JA, Chartrand T, Buchin A, Bakken TE, Budzillo A, Dee N, Ding SL, Gouwens NW, Hodge RD, Kalmbach B, Lee C, Lee BR, Alfiler L, Baker K, Barkan E, Beller A, Berry K, Bertagnolli D, Bickley K, Bomben J, Braun T, Brouner K, Casper T, Chong P, Crichton K, Dalley R, de Frates R, Desta T, Lee SD, D'Orazi F, Dotson N, Egdorf T, Enstrom R, Farrell C, Feng D, Fong O, Furdan S, Galakhova AA, Gamlin C, Gary A, Glandon A, Goldy J, Gorham M, Goriounova NA, Gratiy S, Graybuck L, Gu H, Hadley K, Hansen N, Heistek TS, Henry AM, Heyer DB, Hill D, Hill C, Hupp M, Jarsky T, Kebede S, Keene L, Kim L, Kim MH, Kroll M, Latimer C, Levi BP, Link KE, Mallory M, Mann R, Marshall D, Maxwell M, McGraw M, McMillen D, Melief E, Mertens EJ, Mezei L, Mihut N, Mok S, Molnar G, Mukora A, Ng L, Ngo K, Nicovich PR, Nyhus J, Olah G, Oldre A, Omstead V, Ozsvar A, Park D, Peng H, Pham T, Pom CA, Potekhina L, Rajanbabu R, Ransford S, Reid D, Rimorin C, Ruiz A, Sandman D, Sulc J, Sunkin SM, Szafer A, Szemenyei V, Thomsen ER, Tieu M, Torkelson A, Trinh J, Tung H, Wakeman W, Waleboer F, Ward K, Wilbers R, Williams G, Yao Z, Yoon JG, Anastassiou C, Arkhipov A, Barzo P, Bernard A, Cobbs C, de Witt Hamer PC, Ellenbogen RG, Esposito L, Ferreira M, Gwinn RP, Hawrylycz MJ, Hof PR, Idema S, Jones AR, Keene CD, Ko AL, Murphy GJ, Ng L, Ojemann JG, Patel AP, Phillips JW, Silbergeld DL, Smith K, Tasic B, Yuste R, Segev I, de Kock CPJ, Mansvelder HD, Tamas G, Zeng H, Koch C, Lein ES
Integrated Morphoelectric and Transcriptomic Classification of Cortical GABAergic Cells
Cell
November 12, 2020
Gouwens NW, Sorensen SA, Baftizadeh F, Budzillo A, Lee BR, Jarsky T, Alfiler L, Baker K, Barkan E, Berry K, Bertagnolli D, Bickley K, Bomben J, Braun T, Brouner K, Casper T, Crichton K, Daigle TL, Dalley R, de Frates RA, Dee N, Desta T, Lee SD, Dotson N, Egdorf T, Ellingwood L, Enstrom R, Esposito L, Farrell C, Feng D, Fong O, Gala R, Gamlin C, Gary A, Glandon A, Goldy J, Gorham M, Graybuck L, Gu H, Hadley K, Hawrylycz MJ, Henry AM, Hill D, Hupp M, Kebede S, Kim TK, Kim L, Kroll M, Lee C, Link KE, Mallory M, Mann R, Maxwell M, McGraw M, McMillen D, Mukora A, Ng L, Ng L, Ngo K, Nicovich PR, Oldre A, Park D, Peng H, Penn O, Pham T, Pom A, Popović Z, Potekhina L, Rajanbabu R, Ransford S, Reid D, Rimorin C, Robertson M, Ronellenfitch K, Ruiz A, Sandman D, Smith K, Sulc J, Sunkin SM, Szafer A, Tieu M, Torkelson A, Trinh J, Tung H, Wakeman W, Ward K, Williams G, Zhou Z, Ting JT, Arkhipov A, Sümbül U, Lein ES, Koch C, Yao Z, Tasic B, Berg J, Murphy GJ, Zeng H
Classification of electrophysiological and morphological neuron types in mouse visual cortex
Nature Neuroscience
June 17, 2019
Gouwens NW, Sorensen SA, Berg J, Lee C, Jarsky T, Ting J, Sunkin S, Feng D, Anastassiou C, Barkan E, Bickley K, Blesie N, Braun T, Brouner K, Budzillo A, Caldejon S, Casper T, Castelli D, Chong P, Crichton K, Cuhaciyan C, Daigle T, Dalley R, Dee N, Desta T, Dingman S, Doperalski A, Dotson N, Egdorf T, Fisher M, de Frates RA, Garren E, Garwood M, Gary A, Gaudreault N, Godfrey K, Gorham M, Gu H, Habel C, Hadley K, Harrington J, Harris J, Henry A, Hill D, Josephsen S, Kebede S, Kim L, Kroll M, Lee B, Lemon T, Liu X, Long B, Mann R, McGraw M, Mihalas S, Mukora A, Murphy GJ, Ng L, Ngo K, Nguyen TN, Nicovich PR, Oldre A, Park D, Parry S, Perkins J, Potekhina L, Reid D, Robertson M, Sandman D, Schroedter M, Slaughterbeck C, Soler-Llavina C, Sulc J, Szafer A, Tasic B, Taskin N, Teeter C, Thatra N, Tung H, Wakeman W, Williams G, Young R, Zhou Z, Farrell C, Peng H, Hawrylycz MJ, Lein E, Ng L, Arkhipov A, Bernard A, Phillips J, Zeng H, Koch C