People

Meet The Watts Lab:

Dr. Joel Watts, PhD (Principal Investigator)
Dr. Watts is a Principal Investigator at the Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and an Assistant Professor within the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Toronto. He obtained his BSc from the University of Western Ontario, received a PhD from the University of Toronto, and was a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF.
Email: joel.watts@utoronto.ca
Erica Stuart, BSc, RVT, RLAT (Research Technician)
Erica obtained her BSc from the University of Waterloo in Honours Science & Psychology and then received her Veterinary Technician (RVT) diploma from Seneca College. Erica is responsible for maintaining the Watts lab animal colony and participates in the development and characterization of mouse models of human neurodegenerative diseases.
Email: erica.stuart@utoronto.ca
Dr. Genki Amano, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Dr. Amano is a postdoctoral fellow at the Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto. He received his PhD in Medical Science from Osaka University, Japan. HIs current research investigates the molecular mechanism of PrP aggregation via the regulation of the PrP disulfide-bond.
Email: genki.amano@utoronto.ca
Dr. Surabhi Mehra, PhD, MSc (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Dr. Mehra is a postdoctoral fellow at the Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto. With a background in biotechnology, she holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field. She completed her PhD at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India. Her current research involves characterizing knock-in mouse models of genetic prion diseases and exploring the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying alpha-synuclein strain interference. 
Email: surabhi.mehra@utoronto.ca
Raphaella So, BSc (Graduate Student)
Raphie obtained her BSc from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She is working on the role of alpha-synuclein strains in enciphering disease variability in mouse models of the synucleinopathies.
Email: raphaella.so@mail.utoronto.ca
Nicholas Silver, BSc (Graduate Student)
Nick obtained his BSc Hons. from the University of Alberta in Neuroscience. For his PhD degree, Nick is currently investigating the use of seeding amplification assays to propagate protein aggregates and the interplay between different protein aggregates within the same disease model.
Email: nicholas.silver@mail.utoronto.ca
Leo Li, BSc (Graduate Student)
Leo obtained his BSc from the University of Waterloo. For his PhD degree, he is currently characterizing the properties of various proteins associated with the onset and progression of certain neurodegenerative diseases.
Email: leyao.li@mail.utoronto.ca
Mark Metri (Undergraduate Student)
Mark is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto studying Molecular Genetics. He will be completing an undergraduate thesis course in the Watts Lab starting Fall 2025.

Lab Alumni

  • Jason Ye (undergraduate student, 2024-2025)
    Present position: undergraduate student at the University of Toronto
  • Chris Situ (undergraduate student, 2022-2025)
    Present position: medical student at McMaster University
  • Raj Parekh (undergraduate student, 2023-2024)
    Present position: graduate student at the University of British Columbia
  • Hamza Arshad (PhD candidate)
    Present position: post-doctoral fellow at the University of Toronto
  • Lella Erceg (undergraduate student, 2022-2023)
    Present position: graduate student at University of Toronto
  • Alison Mao (MSc student, 2020-2023)
    Present position: laboratory technician at University of Toronto
  • Heather Lau (PhD candidate)
    Present position: Consultant at Boston Consulting Group
  • Matthew Bourkas (PhD candidate, 2015-2021)
    Present position: Consultant at ZS
  • Zeel Patel (undergraduate student)
    Present position: medical student at the University of Toronto
  • Angus Lau (MSc student, 2015-2018)
    Present position: medical student at the University of Manitoba
  • Alejandro Ruiz-Riquelme (post-doctoral fellow, 2015-2018)
    Present position: post-doctoral fellow at Tübingen University
  • Cian Schmitt-Ulms (summer student, 2018-2019)
    Present position: undergraduate student at the University of Ottawa
  • Zaid Al-Azzawi (project student, 2016-2018)
    Present position: graduate student at University of Toronto
  • Marim Barghash (project student, 2017-2018)
    Present position: graduate student at University of Toronto
  • Jesse Marshall-Sheppard (project student, 2016-2017)
    Present position: medical student at McMaster University
  • Adrienn Goczi (summer student, 2016)
    Present position: graduate student at University of Toronto
  • Stefan Jevtic (NSERC summer student, 2016)
    Present position: medical student at McMaster University
  • Rania Faidi (project student, 2016)
    Present position: graduate student at University of Toronto
  • Peiran Su (project student, 2015-2016)
    Present position: graduate student at University of Toronto