Career Summary
Professor Gerald F. Watts (DSc, PhD, DM, FRACP, FRCP, FCSANZ) is a Senior Academic in the School of Medicine,
University of Western Australia, and Senior Consultant Physician at the Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia,
where he is Winthrop Professor of Cardiometabolic and Internal Medicine based in the Department of
Cardiology. A graduate in medicine and biochemistry with honours from the University of London (Imperial
College), he also completed training in clinical medicine and research at premier university hospitals in the UK.
He relocated from a Lectureship in the University of London (Kings College) in 1994 to assume an Associate
Professorship with promotion in 2003 to full Professor of Medicine in the University of Western Australia.
Contribution to Field of Research
Principal research interests are lipidology, cardiovascular disease and implementation science. Professor Watts
has published extensively, with key papers on the regression of coronary atherosclerosis with diet and drug
treatmentsfor hypercholesterolaemia; diabetic nephropathy, dyslipidaemias and arterial function;tracer studies
of lipoprotein metabolism in dyslipidaemias; clinical and health service studies of complex dyslipidaemias.
He is currently Principal Investigator in clinical trials testing novel RNA-based therapies for complex
dyslipidaemias, with several recent publications in high ranking journals; he leads the FH Australsia Network.
Professor Watts has over 900 published works (5-year h-index of 102).
He is on the editorial board of Current Opinion in Lipidology, Atherosclerosis, Metabolism, Journal of Clinical
Lipidology, American Journal of Preventive Cardiology, Current Opinion in Endocrinology-Diabetes-Obesity.
Selected Honours and Awards
2025 Lifetime Research Achievement Award, WA Cardiovascular Research Alliance; 2023 Myant Lecture, The 5G
Perspective on FH, Heart UK; 2022 RT Hall Prize, Cardiac Society Australia and New Zealand; 2018-25 Highly cited
researcher in the field of Clinical Medicine; 2014 Robert Levy Memorial Lecture – Tracers in Lipid Metabolism;
2010 Senior Visiting Scholar, Woolfson College, University of Oxford; 2003 Doctor of Science (Imperial College,
London University):Lipids-Diabetes-Cardiology
Funding and Collaborations
Professor Watts has a strong record of continuous research funding and has attracted multiple competitive
research grants. These include research funds from national bodies (NHMRC, National Heart Foundation,
Diabetes Australia, Australia Kidney Foundation) and the pharmaceutical industry (c. $40 million over 20 years).
He has held two NHMRC Centre of Clinical Excellence grants (1998-2001, 2002-2008).
Leadership
Professor Watts has exhibited wide leadership roles, including: Lead/expert panel member on guidelines for FH
and complex dyslipidaemias (FH Australasia Network, European Atherosclerosis Society, International FH
Foundation, International Atherosclerosis Society 2011-24); President Australian Atherosclerosis Society 2003-
2005; Executive member International Atherosclerosis Society 2015-2017; Chair FH Australasia Network.
Supervision and Mentoring
Professor Watts contributes extensively to mentoring higher degree students and post-doctoral fellows. He has
supervised 20 PhD, 10 Masters, 20 MD, 7 BSc (Hons) and 15 MBBS students. Three have progressed to
professorships, three to associate professorships and fourto NHMRC fellowships. He was the inaugural chairman
of the Atherosclerosis Education Program for scientists, GPs, allied health workers and medical specialists.