Tania Watts

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 to 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 held the Sanofi Pasteur Chair in Human Immunology at the University of Toronto from 2009 to 2019.[2][6] She is co-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

1. "Tania Watts Faculty Page".
2. "Hardy Cinader Award" (PDF).
3. "Tania Watts Bio".
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. "University of Toronto professor wins GSK's 2014 Discovery Fast Track Challenge".
7. "Faculty of Medicine Flow Cytometry Contacts".
8. "About Us". Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. "CSI Investigator Award Recipients".