Tania H. Watts (born 1957) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Immunologist, Professor at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, 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. 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 The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

where she obtained her Bachelor and PhD degrees in

Biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

. Her graduate supervisor was William Paranchych. She was supported during her graduate work by an

MRC MRC may refer to Government * Medical Research Council (United Kingdom) * Medical Reserve Corps, a US network of volunteer organizations * Municipalité régionale de comté (regional county municipality), Quebec, Canada * Military Revolutionar ...

Studentship.

Scientific career

Watts' graduate research examined the structure and assembly of

pili Pili may refer to: Common names of plants * ''Canarium ovatum'', a Philippine tree that is a source of the pili nut * ''Heteropogon contortus'', a Hawaiian grass used to thatch structures Places * Pili, Camarines Sur, is a municipality in the ...

from

Pseudomonas aeruginosa ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'' is a common encapsulated, gram-negative, aerobic–facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium that can cause disease in plants and animals, including humans. A species of considerable medical importance, ''P. aerugi ...

. Her post-doctoral work at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

with Professor Harden McConnell demonstrated the immunological effect of

antigen presentation Antigen presentation is a vital immune process that is essential for T cell immune response triggering. Because T cells recognize only fragmented antigens displayed on cell surfaces, antigen processing must occur before the antigen fragment, now ...

in lipid bilayers and led to her interest in

T cell A T cell is a type of lymphocyte. T cells are one of the important white blood cells of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell r ...

s and

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity desc ...

. Watts is Professor of Immunology at the University of Toronto. Her group was among the first to provide evidence for CD28-independent co-stimulation. Watts holds the Sanofi Pasteur Chair in Human Immunology at the University of Toronto. She is director of the

Faculty of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

Flow Cytometry Flow cytometry (FC) is a technique used to detect and measure physical and chemical characteristics of a population of cells or particles. In this process, a sample containing cells or particles is suspended in a fluid and injected into the flo ...

facility. 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. Watts was a member of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table until its dissolution in September 2022.

Research

Watts used biophysical techniques to study the properties of pili isolated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO and PAK for her doctoral work. Watts' post-doctoral research encompassed biochemical methods and the microscopy techniques TIRF ( Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence) and FRET (

Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, tha ...

). Her work showed that CD4+ T cells could be activated to secrete

Interleukin 2 Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is an interleukin, a type of cytokine signaling molecule in the immune system. It is a 15.5–16 kDa protein that regulates the activities of white blood cells (leukocytes, often lymphocytes) that are responsible for ...

by a lipid bilayer containing MHC II and peptide antigens, and that MHC II, peptide antigens and T-cell Receptor form a ternary complex. Watts' laboratory at the University of Toronto continues her immunology research, with a focus on T cells,

adaptive immunity The adaptive immune system, also known as the acquired immune system, is a subsystem of the immune system that is composed of specialized, systemic cells and processes that eliminate pathogens or prevent their growth. The acquired immune system ...

and

infectious diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

. Her group examines how different

TNF Receptor family Tumor necrosis factor (TNF, cachexin, or cachectin; formerly known as tumor necrosis factor alpha or TNF-α) is an adipokine and a cytokine. TNF is a member of the TNF superfamily, which consists of various transmembrane proteins with a homolog ...

members (TNFR) contribute to survival of

lymphocyte A lymphocyte is a type of white blood cell (leukocyte) in the immune system of most vertebrates. Lymphocytes include natural killer cells (which function in cell-mediated, cytotoxic innate immunity), T cells (for cell-mediated, cytotoxic ad ...

s to control viral infections. Her studies also demonstrate how TNFR activation contributes to

inflammation Inflammation (from la, wikt:en:inflammatio#Latin, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or Irritation, irritants, and is a protective response involving im ...

and

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. Watts has applied her expertise in immunology to study the persistence of immunity to

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

and the effectiveness of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in individuals affected by

immune-mediated inflammatory diseases An immune-mediated inflammatory disease (IMID) is any of a group of conditions or diseases that lack a definitive etiology, but which are characterized by common inflammatory pathways leading to inflammation, and which may result from, or be trigg ...

Awards

* 2006 CSI Investigator award * 2014 GSK Fast track challenge winner * 2016 CSI - Hardy Cinader Award *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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Tania Women immunologists Living people Canadian immunologists Academic staff of the University of Toronto University of Alberta alumni 1957 births Canadian women scientists Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table