Steve Watson

Professor Steve P. Watson

Department of Cardiovascular Sciences
Professor in Cardiovascular Sciences and Cellular Pharmacology
Head of the Birmingham Platelet Group

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0) 121 414 6514
Email: s.p.watson@bham.ac.uk

Address: Department of Cardiovascular Sciences
IBR Building
College of Medicine and Health
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Steve Watson is an Emeritus British Heart Foundation Professor in Cardiovascular Sciences and Cellular Pharmacology.

Steve is Head of the Birmingham Platelet Group which consists of more than 40 researchers (>10 PIs) investigating haemostatic and non-haemostatic functions of platelets in health and disease.

Steve’s research interests focus on mechanisms of platelet activation by tyrosine kinase-linked receptors (notably CLEC-2, FcgammaRIIA, GPVI and PEAR1) and in developing novel antiplatelet agents that target these receptors in thrombi-inflammatory disease.

Steve is the founding Co-Director of , a unique collaboration between the Universities 麻豆精选 and Nottingham that brings together leading researchers to develop novel methods for visualising single membrane proteins and to use these to identify new approaches for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Steve is a member of the grant funding panels: Heart Research UK and The Barts Charity.

Steve is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (2002) and was the 2006 winner of the Nature/Nesta mid-career award for creative mentoring.

Qualifications

Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences 2002
PhD Pharmacology 1983
BSc Pharmacology (1^st) 1980

Biography

Steve trained in the Universities of Leeds and Cambridge before undertaking postdoctoral studies in Burroughs Wellcome, North Carolina. He moved to the Department of Pharmacology in the University of Oxford in 1985 where he was supported by series of competitive fellowships, including a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. He moved to a British Heart Foundation Professorship in Birmingham in 2004.

Teaching

Steve Watson and Graham Wallace are the co-Directors of the Wellcome Trust 4 Year Programme on Mechanisms of Inflammatory Disease

Postgraduate supervision

Steve currently supervises 1 PhD student.

Steve currently has openings for self-funded PhD students in the areas of

(i) platelet surface receptors and their signalling pathways and
(ii) the role of platelets in inflammatory processes.

Please e-mail Professor Watson directly.

Research

Steve undertakes a multi- and inter-disciplinary approach to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying platelet activation by tyrosine kinase linked glycoprotein receptors. Steve’s research focuses on the collagen receptor, GPVI, the podoplanin receptor, CLEC-2, the low affinity immune receptor, FcgammaRIIA, and the proteoglycan receptor PEAR1.

Steve uses advanced microscopy (FCS and single molecule), molecular modelling (ODE and agent-based), crystallography, cell line studies and protein phosphorylation to study the mechanisms of receptor activation.

Steve has developed a series of high affinity antibodies and nanobodies that block CLEC-2 and GPVI and is aiming to translate these to early phase clinical trial in thrombo-inflammatory diseases. Steve is working with Pip Nicolson and Mark Thomas in repurposing inhibitors of Syk and Btk as novel antiplatelets in thrombosis and thrombo-inflammatory disorders.

With Pip Nicolson, Steve is also investigating the mechanisms of the thrombosis in patients with vaccine-induced immune thrombosis and thrombocytopenia.

Steve’s research is funded by the BBSRC, British Heart Foundation, MRC, NIHR and Wellcome Trust.

Other activities

Steve is the Lead of the BHF Accelerator Grant which was award in recognition of the world-leading research in thrombo-inflammation and atrial fibrillation. The grant is used to support early career researchers transitioning to independence, interdisciplinary research and early phase translation projects
Steve is the co-lead with Dipak Kotecha of the Biomedical Research Centre theme on thrombo-inflammation
Steve is a co-PI on the Liberate Phase II trial studying the GPVI-blocker glenzocimab in acute coronary syndromes (leads: Jon Townend and Mark Thomas)

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Perez-Toledo, M, Beristain-Covarrubias, N, Pillaye, J, Persaud, R, Marcial Juarez, E, Jossi, S, Hitchcock, J, Alshayea, A, Channell, W, Wiersma, N, Kavanagh, D, Carestia, A, Horsnell, W, Henderson, IR, Mackman, N, Clark, AR, Jenne, CN, Rayes, J, Watson, S & Cunningham, A 2025, '', Nature Communications.

Nicolson, P, Abrams, S, Amirthalingam, G, Brown, K, Buka, R, Caulfield, MJ, Gardner, J, Goldblatt, D, Lovatt, C, Montague, S, Naisbitt, D, Parker, AL, Pavord, S, Ramsay, ME, Sterne, JAC, Sudlow, C, Toh, C-H, Watson, S, Wang, G, Wood, AM, Whiteley, W, Pirmohamed, M & TTS Consortium 2025, '', Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation.

Xu, R-G, Tiede, C, Calabrese, AN, Cheah, LT, Adams, TL, Gauer, JS, Hindle, MS, Webb, BA, Yates, DM, Slater, A, Duval, C, Naseem, KM, Herr, AB, Tomlinson, DC, Watson, SP & Ari毛ns, RAS 2024, '', Blood Advances, vol. 8, no. 15, pp. 3917-3928.

Bourne, JH, Perrella, G, El-Awaisi, J, Terry, LV, Tinkova, V, Hogg, RL, Gant, P, Grygielska, B, Kalia, N, Kavanagh, D, Brill, A, Dimitrov, JD, Watson, SP & Rayes, J 2024, '', Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 2018-2026.

Gardner, J, Abrams, ST, Toh, C-H, Parker, AL, Lovatt, C, Nicolson, PLR, Watson, SP, Grice, S, Hering, L, Pirmohamed, M & Naisbitt, DJ 2024, '', NPJ vaccines, vol. 9, no. 1, 99.

Lamerton, R, Montague, S, Perez-Toledo, M, Watson, S & Cunningham, A 2024, '', Platelets, vol. 35, no. 1, 2437241.

Wang, X, Slater, A, Lee, SC, Harrison, N, Pollock, NL, Bakker, SE, Navarro, S, Nieswandt, B, Dafforn, TR, Garc铆a, 脕, Watson, SP & Tomlinson, MG 2024, '', Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, vol. 754, 109944.

Smith, C, Campos, J, Brown, H, Ivanova, V-S, Harbi, M, Garcia Quintanilla, L, Jossi, S, Perez-Toledo, M, Rookes, K, Brill, A, Theodore, L, Owens, T, LaStant, J, Foulke, MC, Mukai, S, Francesco, M, Storek, M, Hicks, A, Langrish, C, Nunn, PA, Cunningham, A, Chauhan, A, Thomas, MR, Watson, S & Nicolson, P 2024, '', Blood Advances.

Martin, E, Clark, J, Montague, S, Moran, LA, Di, Y, Bull, LJ, Whittle, L, Raka, F, Buka, R, Zafar, I, Kardeby, C, Slater, A & Watson, S 2024, '', Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 271-285.

Alenazy, F, Harbi, M, Kavanagh, D, Price, J, Brady, P, Hargreaves, O, Harrison, P, Slater, A, Tiwari, A, Nicolson, P, Connolly, D, Kirchhof, P, Kalia, N, Jandrot-Perrus, M, Mangin, PH, Watson, S & Thomas, MR 2023, '', Journal of thrombosis and haemostasis : JTH, vol. 21, no. 11, pp. 3236-3251.

Sch枚nichen, C, Montague, SJ, Brouns, SLN, Burston, JJ, Cosemans, JMEM, Jurk, K, Kehrel, BE, Koenen, RR, N铆脕inle, F, O'Donnell, VB, Soehnlein, O, Watson, SP, Kuijpers, MJE, Heemskerk, JWM & Nagy, M 2023, '', Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.

Damaskinaki, F-N, Jooss, NJ, Martin, EM, Clark, JC, Thomas, MR, Poulter, NS, Emsley, J, Kellam, B, Watson, SP & Slater, A 2023, '', Journal of thrombosis and haemostasis : JTH, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 317-328.

Clark, JC, Martin, EM, Mor谩n, LA, Di, Y, Wang, X, Zuidscherwoude, M, Brown, HC, Kavanagh, DM, Hummert, J, Eble, JA, Nieswandt, B, Stegner, D, Pollitt, AY, Herten, D, Tomlinson, MG, Garc铆a, A & Watson, SP 2023, '', Communications Biology, vol. 6, no. 1, 376.

Gauer, J, Duval, C, Xu, R-G, Macrae, FL, McPherson, H, Tiede, C, Tomlinson, D, Watson, S & Ari毛ns, RAS 2023, '', Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 667-681.

Letter

Brown, HC, Beck, S, Navarro, S, Di, Y, Soriano jerez, EM, Kaczmarzyk, J, Thomas, SG, Mirakaj, V, Watson, SP, Nieswandt, B & Stegner, D 2023, '', Blood Advances, vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 997鈥�1000.