Dr Robert Watson MRCP

I studied medicine at Oxford (Worcester and GTC), graduating with a First Class and Distinction, before undertaking the Academic Foundation Programme in North West London where I worked as a junior doctor alongside conducting primary care research at Imperial College. I then took a career break and worked for The Nuffield Trust healthcare policy think tank and as a volunteer doctor in Blantyre, Malawi. I returned to Oxford in 2016 to take up an Academic Clinical Fellowship in medical oncology and was appointed a Lecturer in Medicine at Worcester. Following this I undertook a DPhil (PhD) in Oxford, and am now completing higher specialty training in Medical Oncology, alongside conducting Postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford. I was appointed as a Supernumerary Fellow of Worcester College in 2024.

As Director of Graduate Entry Medicine at Worcester I act as Director of Studies for students on the accelerated medicine course – this is a four-year medical degree for those with an undergraduate degree in a science subject. As well as acting as Admitting Tutor for this subject and being College Advisor for all students on this course, I deliver lots of teaching on topics such as cancer biology, immunology, medical ethics and critical appraisal. I also teach the clinical students (years 2-4 of the graduate entry course and years 4-6 of the undergraduate course) across a wide range of medical topics in both a classroom-based and bedside setting (i.e. on the hospital wards).

As well as being a Fellow and Director of Graduate Entry Medicine at Worcester, I am a Clinical Lecturer in the Department of Oncology, spending half my time conducting post-doctoral research and the other half as a clinical doctor, completing higher specialty training in medical oncology.

I completed a Wellcome Trust-funded DPhil in the Fairfax Lab at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM) in August 2023 and continue to work with Prof. Ben Fairfax and other colleagues across Oxford Cancer to understand T cell responses following immune treatments for cancer. I use a variety of techniques including single cell transcriptomics and analysis of T cell repertoires to draw novel insights into the molecular mechanisms of immune checkpoint blockade and other experimental immunotherapies. I primarily work with human tissue and aim to translate research findings into patient-focussed interventions.

My current post is funded by CRIS, a Spanish cancer research charity, and prior to this I was awarded a CRUK pre-doctoral bursary, which allowed me to generate preliminary data to apply to the Wellcome Trust for my Doctoral Fellowship.

View all publications on ORCID

Highlights:

• Taylor CA*, Watson RA*, Tong O*, Ye W, Nassiri I, Gilchrist JJ, et al. IL7 genetic variation and toxicity to immune checkpoint blockade in patients with melanoma. Nature Medicine 2022 Dec;28(12):2592–600.
• Tsakok MT*, Watson RA*, Saujani SJ, Kong M, Xie C, Peschl H, et al. Chest CT and Hospital Outcomes in Patients with Omicron Compared with Delta Variant SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Radiology. 2022 Jun 21;220533.
• Watson RA*, Tong O*, Cooper R, Taylor CA, Sharma PK, de los Aires AV, et al. Immune checkpoint blockade sensitivity and progression-free survival associates with baseline CD8+ T cell clone size and cytotoxicity. Science Immunology. 2021 Oct;6(64).
• Watson RA*, De La Pena H*, Tsakok MT, Joseph J, Stoneham S, Shamash J, Joffe JK, Mazhar D, Traill Z, Ho LP, Brand S, Protheroe A. Development of a best-practice clinical guideline for the use of bleomycin in the treatment of germ cell tumours in the UK. British Journal of Cancer. 2018 Oct;119(9):1044-1051.
• Mazet JM, Mahale JN, Tong O, Watson RA, Lechuga-Vieco AV, Pirgova G, et al. IFNγ signaling in cytotoxic T cells restricts anti-tumor responses by inhibiting the maintenance and diversity of intra-tumoral stem-like T cells. Nature Communications. 2023 Jan 19;14(1):321.
• Gilchrist JJ, Makino S, Naranbhai V, Sharma PK… Watson RA…, et al. Natural Killer cells demonstrate distinct eQTL and transcriptome-wide disease associations, highlighting their role in autoimmunity. Nature Communications. 2022 Jul 14;13(1):4073.
• Ahern DJ, Ai Z, Ainsworth M, … Watson RA…, et al. A blood atlas of COVID-19 defines hallmarks of disease severity and specificity. Cell. 2022 Mar 3;185(5):916-938.e58.
• Peng Y, Felce SL, Dong D, Penkava F, Mentzer AJ… Watson RA,… et al. An immunodominant NP105–113-B*07:02 cytotoxic T cell response controls viral replication and is associated with less severe COVID-19 disease. Nature Immunology 2022 Jan;23(1):50–61.
• Chinnery PF, Bonnet M, Cave A, Hofer MP, Lamb A,… Watson RA…, et al. Choosing drugs for UK COVID-19 treatment trials. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. 2022 Feb;21(2):81–2.