Jonathan K. Watts PhD

Jonathan K. Watts is a Professor at the RNA Therapeutics Institute of UMass Chan Medical School (Worcester, MA, USA). He completed his training at Dalhousie University (BSc), McGill University (Ph.D.), and UT Southwestern Medical Center (Postdoctoral). After establishing his independent laboratory at the University of Southampton, UK, he moved to the RNA Therapeutics Institute in 2015. He has won over 20 awards including the 2013 OTS Young Investigator Award, the 2015 Vice Chancellor’s award for teaching, and the 2018 Angel Award for ALS research.

Current work in the Watts lab is focused on the optimization of ASO chemistry for use in the CNS and lung, and on the chemistry of guides and donors for genome editing. The Watts group works on both platform technology and disease applications and has contributed to the development of two drugs that have reached patients on a compassionate use basis. Jon is on the Board of Directors of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society since 2015.