Professor Colin Watts MBBS, PhD, FRCS(SN)

• FRCS (Surg. Neurol.) 2002
• PhD (Cantab) 1999
• MB BS 1991
• Bachelor of Medical Science 1990

Professor Colin Watts leads the newly established Brain Cancer Programme at the University of Birmingham. His research aims to improve the treatment and survival of patients with glioma by understanding the molecular genetic heterogeneity of individual tumours and using that data to develop novel molecular and functional stratification suitable for application in clinical trials. His clinical practice specializes in neurosurgical oncology with a particular interest in intrinsic gliomas and cerebral metastases.

Professor Watts qualified from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and trained in neurosurgery in Cambridge and London where he completed his specialist training in 2004. He was awarded his doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 1999 and appointed as an MRC Clinician Scientist in 2004. He became a HEFCE Clinical Senior Lecturer in 2010 and was appointed Associate Professor in Neurosurgical Oncology, University of Cambridge, in 2016. He has published over 160 papers, articles, book chapters and reviews and serves on the editorial boards of Neuro-oncology and the European Journal of Surgical Oncology. He has received over £3.6M research funding as an academic consultant and was awarded the SNO translational research prize in 2013 for his work in evolutionary genomics of glioblastoma.  

As a practicing neurosurgeon Professor Watts has established a dedicated neurosurgical-oncology research clinic to support clinical trials and collaborative translational research. Ongoing clinical research uses fluorescence-guided techniques to optimize cytoreduction, develop surgical biomarkers of high-grade cancer, and enhance post-operative management of glioma patients through accelerated molecular stratification. His translational research interests are to understand the spatial and temporal evolution of tumour heterogeneity and the impact of sampling bias on our understanding of the clonal architecture and phylogeny of treatment-resistant disease. 

Birmingham Brain Cancer Programme (>£10M grant income)

Watts:

TBTC Grant Patient Reported Core Outcomes in Brain Tumour Trials: the COBra study 01/04/2021 – 31.03.2023 £154,073

Minderoo Foundation BRAIN MATRIX Precision Medicine Accelerator 01/04/2021-31/03/2023 £450,000

EPSRC IRC Consortium Grant for Hard-to-Treat Cancers 01/10/2018 – 30/09/2024 £10M of which £470,000 to C Watts

Innovate UK award for The Tessa Jowell BRAIN MATRIX Platform £3,400,000

TBTC Grant 000580 The Tessa Jowell BRAIN MATRIX Platform Trial 01/03/2019 – 28/02/2024 £2,829,449

TBTC Quest for Cures: 01/09/2017 – 31/08/2022 WINDOW Consortium for glioblastoma: Targeting Inter- and Intra-Tumour Heterogeneity £1,513,528.52

TBTC Grant 495057: Overcoming the blood brain barrier: Supramolecular hydrogels for combination drug delivery 01/08/2017 – 31/07/2018 £100,000

Tennant:

CRUK, £1.3M (PI; Tennant), 02/17 – 01/2023. Pseudohypoxia-led identification of metabolic vulnerabilities in hypoxic tumours to improve patient outcomes

Birmingham Children’s Hospital Research Foundation, £51,000 (PI; Tennant). 12/17 – 11/18. Assessment of the role of Yes-associated protein (YAP) in paediatric high grade glioma (PI; Tennant)

MRC Confidence in Concept, £80,000 (PI; Tennant). 01/13 – 01/14. Validation of a novel means of stratifying patients with low grade glioma by survival

Bardella:

Oligodendroglioma challenge grant- Oligo Nation (collaborative research project; 125K$)

Sawlani:

Artificial intelligence in brain tumour imaging: predicting treatment response – QEHB Charity, £113,473

McConville:

C McConville (PI) and C, Watts, In Vivo Testing of Single and Multi-layered Drug Delivery Implants for Safety and Efficacy Using Glioblastoma Mouse Resection Model Xenotransplanted with Primary Human Glioblastoma Tissue, Medical Research Council £71,040

Birmingham Neuro-Trauma Programme (active grants in the last 4 years listed only)

Belli:

GRANTS > £1M

•       EU H2020 Antimicrobial Integrated Methodologies for orthopaedic applications - ETN; EUR 3.9 million, Jan 2020-Dec 2025

•           NIHR HTA Pharmacological management of post-traumatic seizures; £2,005,000, Oct 2019-Sep 2026

•           NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre; £10,000,000, Lead applicant and Centre Director, August 2016-July 2021

•           MRC and NIHR HTA Clinical Randomisation of an Antifibrinolytic in Significant Head Injury Trial (CRASH-3); £3,294,000, June 2014-December 2019

•           NIHR Trauma MedTech; £1,100,000; Jan 2018-Dec 2022

•           EU2020 Brain injury and trauma monitoring using advanced photonics (ETN); €3,835,756, Jan 2016-Dec 2020

•           NIHR HTA A randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial of a two-week course of dexamethasone for adult patients with a symptomatic Chronic Subdural Haematoma (Dex-CSDH trial) 1,206,959, 2014-February 2019

•           Welcome-NIHR (HIC) (Logan, Grover, Scott, Belli, Shah) Biomembranes for Trauma Care; £1,811,618, 2014-May 2020

•           NIHR HTA Randomised Evaluation of Surgery with Craniectomy for patients Undergoing Evacuation of Acute Subdural Haematoma (RESCUE-ASDH); £1,445,618, Co-I, July 2014-Jun 2020

•           EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Physical Sciences for Health (Sci-Phy-4-Health); £6,200,000, October 2014-October 2018

 OTHER GRANTS >£100K

•       Jon Moulton CRASH-4 trial: The effects of early TXA on death, disability and dementia in older adults with mild TBI, £717,728, 2020-2022

•           NIHR Senior Investigator £360,000, 2019-2023

•           Drake Foundation Investigating concussion in professional football; £180,000, CI, 2018-2021

•           SBRI Test for diagnosing TBI at point of impact from Mild (Concussion) to Moderate/Severe; £855,223, 2016-18

•           MRC DPFS Potential of P2X7 receptor antagonism to attenuate the adverse consequences of neurotrauma (PROTECT); £945,515, August 2017-July 2023

•           NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Mechanism of Tranexamic Acid in Isolated Traumatic Brain Injury; £363,200, February 2016-January 2018

•           NIHR Healthcare Technology Cooperative on Trauma Management; £900,000, Co-I and Theme Lead, January 2013-December 2017

•           Small Business Research Initiative (Wright, Belli, Davies) Development of a Pupilloscope for the assessment of TBI (Phase II); £900,000, January 2015-December 2021

 OTHER CURRENT GRANTS <£100K

•           NIHR GHPSR Equitable access to quality trauma systems in Lower and Middle Income Countries. £99,977, March 2020 - March 2021

•           MRC CiC (UoB) Development of an antimicrobial coating for biomedical implants; £87,500, Lead Applicant, January 2017 – December 2017

•           MRC Confidence in Concept £87,500, September 2016-August2017  

•           BRIDGE Fund (University of Illinois-University of Birmingham) Biomarkers of Traumatic Brain Injury; £15,000, November 2015- June 2017

•           British Medical Association, Repetitive Concussion in Sport; £54,882, September 2013-September 2016

 OTHER GRANTS < £10k: total £115,297 (n=15)

 

• Co-chair WFNS Neuro-Oncology committee 2017 to date
• Vice president British Neuro-Oncology Society (BNOS) 2017 to date
• Founding Chair SBNS Tumour Section 2015 to date
• Chair Neuro-Oncology Section EANS 2014 to date
• Board Member European Association of NeuroOncology (EANO) 2014 to date
• Director of Studies (Clinical) Peterhouse 2010 to date
• Council Member British Neuro-Oncology Society (BNOS) 2008 to 2017
• Chair International Rare Cancers Initiative for Brain 2013 to 2017
• Neuro-Oncology Faculty WFNS 2012 to 2017
• Chairman NCRI Clinical Trials Group, Brain Tumours 2011 to 2017
• Chairman of Organising Committee BNOS National Meeting Cambridge 2011
• Committee member NCRI Clinical Trials Group, Brain Tumours 2008 - 2011
• Council Member British Neuro-Oncology Society (BNOS)  2008 to date
• Chair NCRI technology sub-group, Brain Tumours  2009 - 2012