William "Bill" Lawrence, MD, MS, is an Associate Director, Science, Clinical Effectiveness and Decision Science, at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). In this role, he oversees dissemination projects and helps to develop strategic directions on decision aid and decision science topics.

Before joining PCORI, Lawrence worked at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), where he served as Medical Officer and Senior Science Advisor for the Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement. He worked in the areas of systematic review and observational studies in comparative effectiveness research (CER). He has served as project officer of several large CER studies, and served as clinical consultant and decision science/decision aid content expert for the John M. Eisenberg Center for Clinical Decisions and Communications Science. He has published articles on CER, health outcomes measurement, decision modeling, and cost-effectiveness analysis. His research interest is in optimizing patient and societal decision-making given available effectiveness information.

Lawrence earned a BS in biomedical engineering from Duke University, and an MD from the West Virginia University School of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency and a general internal medicine fellowship at the University of Wisconsin. During his fellowship, he received an MS in Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, with a focus on medical decision making. He has had a general internal medicine practice and conducted research at the University of Wisconsin and at Georgetown University.