Canadian Immunologist
Tania Watts
Alma mater University of Alberta Known for Adaptive Immunity Research Awards Distinguished Fellow AAI 2022
Reynolds Award CSI 2018 Scientific career Fields Immunology Institutions Stanford University
University of Toronto
Thesis Structure and assembly of pili isolated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains PAK and PAO
Doctoral advisor William Paranchych
Tania H. Watts (born 1957) is a
Canadian
Immunologist , Professor at the
University of Toronto ,
[1] past President of the Canadian Society for Immunology and from 2009-2019 held the Sanofi Pasteur Chair in Human Immunology at the University of Toronto.
[2] Tania Watts holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Anti-viral Immunity (2021- ) and was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists, class of 2022.
Education
Watts studied at the
University of Alberta where she obtained her Bachelor and PhD degrees in
Biochemistry .
[3] Her graduate supervisor was William Paranchych.
[2] She was supported during her graduate work by an
MRC Studentship.
[4]
Scientific career
Watts' graduate research examined the structure and assembly of
pili from
Pseudomonas aeruginosa .
Her post-doctoral work at
Stanford University with Professor
Harden McConnell demonstrated the immunological effect of
antigen presentation in
lipid bilayers and led to her interest in
T cells and
immunity .
[2]
Watts is Professor of Immunology at the University of Toronto.
[1] Her group was among the first to provide evidence for CD28-independent
co-stimulation .
[5] Watts holds the Sanofi Pasteur Chair in Human Immunology at the University of Toronto.
[2]
[6] She is director of the
Faculty of Medicine
Flow Cytometry facility.
[7]
Watts is an active organizer in the Immunology community. She is a founder the Toronto Human Immunology Network, past President (2009-2011) of the Canadian Society for Immunology, and has organized international symposia.
[3]
[2]
Watts was a member of
Ontario 's
COVID-19 Science Advisory Table until its dissolution in September 2022.
[8]
Research
Watts used biophysical techniques to study the properties of pili isolated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO and PAK for her doctoral work.
[4]
[9]
Watts' post-doctoral research encompassed biochemical methods and the microscopy techniques TIRF (
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence ) and FRET (
Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer ). Her work showed that CD4+ T cells could be activated to secrete
Interleukin 2 by a lipid bilayer containing
MHC II and peptide antigens, and that MHC II, peptide antigens and
T-cell Receptor form a ternary complex.
[10]
[11]
Watts' laboratory at the University of Toronto continues her immunology research, with a focus on T cells,
adaptive immunity and
infectious diseases .
[1] Her group examines how different
TNF Receptor family members (TNFR) contribute to survival of
lymphocytes to control
viral infections .
[12] Her studies also demonstrate how TNFR activation contributes to
inflammation and
cancer .
[6]
Watts has applied her expertise in immunology to study the persistence of immunity to
SARS-CoV-2
[13] and the effectiveness of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in individuals affected by
immune-mediated inflammatory diseases .
[14]
Awards
2006 CSI Investigator award
[15]
2014 GSK Fast track challenge winner
[6]
2016 CSI -
Hardy Cinader Award
[2]
2022 American Association of Immunologists Distinguished Fellow, class of 2022
2021 Canada Research Chair in Anti-Viral Immunity 2021-2028
2019 JJ Berry-Smith doctoral supervision award, University of Toronto
2018 John D. Reynolds Award, Canadian Society for Immunology
References
^
a
b
c
"Tania Watts Faculty Page" .
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"Hardy Cinader Award" (PDF) .
^
a
b
"Tania Watts Bio" .
^
a
b Watts, T. H.; Kay, C. M.; Paranchych, W. (1982). "Dissociation and characterization of pilin isolated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains PAK and PAO". Canadian Journal of Biochemistry . 60 (9): 867–872.
doi :
10.1139/o82-110 .
ISSN
0008-4018 .
PMID
6129055 .
^ DeBenedette, M. A.; Shahinian, A.; Mak, T. W.; Watts, T. H. (1997).
"Costimulation of CD28- T lymphocytes by 4-1BB ligand" . Journal of Immunology . 158 (2): 551–559.
doi :
10.4049/jimmunol.158.2.551 .
ISSN
0022-1767 .
PMID
8992967 .
S2CID
20305241 .
^
a
b
c
"University of Toronto professor wins GSK's 2014 Discovery Fast Track Challenge" .
^
"Faculty of Medicine Flow Cytometry Contacts" .
^
"About Us" . Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table . Retrieved 2022-09-13 .
^ Watts, T. H.; Sastry, P. A.; Hodges, R. S.; Paranchych, W. (1983).
"Mapping of the antigenic determinants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAK polar pili" . Infection and Immunity . 42 (1): 113–121.
doi :
10.1128/IAI.42.1.113-121.1983 .
ISSN
0019-9567 .
PMC
264531 .
PMID
6194112 .
^ Watts, T. H.; Brian, A. A.; Kappler, J. W.; Marrack, P.; McConnell, H. M. (1984).
"Antigen presentation by supported planar membranes containing affinity-purified I-Ad" . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 81 (23): 7564–7568.
Bibcode :
1984PNAS...81.7564W .
doi :
10.1073/pnas.81.23.7564 .
ISSN
0027-8424 .
PMC
392187 .
PMID
6334313 .
^ Watts, T. H.; Gaub, H. E.; McConnell, H. M. (1986). "T-cell-mediated association of peptide antigen and major histocompatibility complex protein detected by energy transfer in an evanescent wave-field". Nature . 320 (6058): 179–181.
Bibcode :
1986Natur.320..179W .
doi :
10.1038/320179a0 .
ISSN
0028-0836 .
PMID
2936964 .
S2CID
4240239 .
^ Chang, Yu-Han; Wang, Kuan Chung; Chu, Kuan-Lun; Clouthier, Derek L.; Tran, Anh T.; Torres Perez, Miguel S.; Zhou, Angela C.; Abdul-Sater, Ali A.; Watts, Tania H. (2017).
"Dichotomous Expression of TNF Superfamily Ligands on Antigen-Presenting Cells Controls Post-priming Anti-viral CD4+ T Cell Immunity" . Immunity . 47 (5): 943–958.e9.
doi :
10.1016/j.immuni.2017.10.014 .
ISSN
1097-4180 .
PMID
29150240 .
^ Law, Jaclyn C.; Girard, Melanie; Chao, Gary Y. C.; Ward, Lesley A.; Isho, Baweleta; Rathod, Bhavisha; Colwill, Karen; Li, Zhijie; Rini, James M.; Yue, Feng Yun; Mubareka, Samira; McGeer, Allison J.; Ostrowski, Mario A.; Gommerman, Jennifer L.; Gingras, Anne-Claude (2022-01-15).
"Persistence of T Cell and Antibody Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Up to 9 Months after Symptom Onset" . The Journal of Immunology . 208 (2): 429–443.
doi :
10.4049/jimmunol.2100727 .
ISSN
0022-1767 .
PMID
34903642 .
^ Dayam, Roya M.; Law, Jaclyn C.; Goetgebuer, Rogier L.; Chao, Gary Y.C.; Abe, Kento T.; Sutton, Mitchell; Finkelstein, Naomi; Stempak, Joanne M.; Pereira, Daniel; Croitoru, David; Acheampong, Lily; Rizwan, Saima; Rymaszewski, Klaudia; Milgrom, Raquel; Ganatra, Darshini (2022-06-08).
"Accelerated waning of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases" . JCI Insight . 7 (11): e159721.
doi :
10.1172/jci.insight.159721 .
ISSN
2379-3708 .
PMC
9220925 .
PMID
35471956 .
^
"CSI Investigator Award Recipients" .