Dr Steven Watterson is a Computational Biologist at the Northern Ireland Centre for Stratified Medicine with research interests in cholesterol metabolism, cardiovascular disease and computational analysis. Steven employs Systems Biology and Machine Learning approaches to biomedical science and is interested in developing new tools and resources for use in biomedical science.

Steven has a PhD in mathematics and theoretical physics from Trinity College, Dublin and a first class MPhys(Hons) in Physics from the University of Edinburgh.  He studied non-equilibrium systems with Dr Chris Jarzynski at Los Alamos Laboratories, USA, and spent six years as a research fellow at the University of Edinburgh investigating the role of cholesterol metabolism in innate immunity in the lab of Prof Peter Ghazal at the Division of Infection and Pathway Medicine.  Whilst at the University of Edinburgh, Steven also held joint appointments with the Centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology.

Membership. Steven is a past member of the Life and Medical Sciences Advisory Committee of the Royal Irish Academy and currently serves on the editorial board of Frontiers in Synthetic Biology. 

Steven’s research focuses on the networks of interactions that exist between genes, proteins and small molecules that determine biological function. In particular, Steven is interested in how the dynamics of these networks alter in disease, how they vary within and between populations and how they can be reprogrammed therapeutically.

2021
Gibson, David S; McGeough, Cathy M; Watterson, Steven; Blayney, Jaine; Wright, Gary D; Pendleton, Adrian; Gardiner, Philip; Small, Dawn; Eakin, Amanda J; Ahmed, Tahanver; Anti-tumour necrosis factor-alpha response associated with combined CD226 and HLA-DRB1* 0404 haplotype in rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology (2021)

2020
Joshi, Alok; Wang, Da-Hui; Watterson, Steven; McClean, Paula L; Behera, Chandan K; Sharp, Trevor; Wong-Lin, KongFatt; Opportunities for multiscale computational modelling of serotonergic drug effects in Alzheimer's disease Neuropharmacology 108118 (2020)

Comte, Blandine; Baumbach, Jan; Benis, Arriel; Basílio, José; Debeljak, Nataša; Flobak, Åsmund; Franken, Christian; Harel, Nissim; He, Feng; Kuiper, Martin; Network and systems medicine: Position paper of the European Collaboration on Science and Technology action on Open Multiscale Systems Medicine Network and Systems Medicine 3 1 67-90 (2020)

Zanin, Massimiliano; Atiya, Nadim; Basilio, Jose; Baumbach, Jan; Benis, Arriel; Behera, Chandan; Bucholc, Magda; Castiglione, Filippo; Chouvarda, Ioanna; Comte, Blandine; An Early Stage Researcher’s Primer on Systems Medicine Terminology Network and Systems Medicine 4 1 (2020)

Pujos-Guillot, Estelle; Comte, Blandine; de Miranda, Joao Luis; Spiwok, Vojtech; Chorbev, Ivan; Castiglione, Filippo; Tieri, Paolo; Watterson, Steven; Mc Allister, Roisin; Malaquias, Tiago De Melo; Deep Learning in Systems Medicine Briefings in Bioinformatics 22 2 1543-59 (2020)  

Rjoob, Khaled; McGilligan, Victoria; Bond, Raymond; Watterson, Steven; Chemaly, Melody; McAlister, Roisin; Malaquias, Tiago De Melo; Leslie, Stephen J; Knoery, Charles; Iftikhar, Aleeha; Improving the Detection of Acute Coronary Syndrome Using Machine Learning of Blood Biomarkers Computing in Cardiology 1-4 (2020) IEEE

2019
McLaughlin, Joseph; Watterson, Steven; Layton, Alison M; Bjourson, Anthony J; Barnard, Emma; McDowell, Andrew; Propionibacterium acnes and Acne Vulgaris: New Insights from the Integration of Population Genetic, Multi-Omic, Biochemical and Host-Microbe Studies Microorganisms 7 5 128 (2019)

McGilligan, Victoria; Watterson, Steven; Rjoob, Khaled; Chemaly, Melody; Bond, Raymond; Iftikhar, Aleeha; Knoery, Charles; Leslie, Stephen J; McShane, Anne; Bjourson, Anthony; An exploratory analysis investigating blood protein biomarkers to augment ECG diagnosis of ACS Journal of Electrocardiology 57 S92-S97 (2019) 

2018
Mazein, Alexander; Ostaszewski, Marek; Kuperstein, Inna; Watterson, Steven; Le Novère, Nicolas; Lefaudeux, Diane; De Meulder, Bertrand; Pellet, Johann; Balaur, Irina; Saqi, Mansoor; Systems medicine disease maps: community-driven comprehensive representation of disease mechanisms NPJ Systems Biology and Applications 4 1 1-10 (2018)
 
Parton, Andrew; McGilligan, Victoria; Chemaly, Melody; O’Kane, Maurice; Watterson, Steven; New models of atherosclerosis and multi-drug therapeutic interventions. Bioinformatics 35 14 2449-2457 (2018) 

2017
Benson, Helen E; Watterson, Steven; Sharman, Joanna L; Mpamhanga, Chido P; Parton, Andrew; Southan, Christopher; Harmar, Anthony J; Ghazal, Peter; Is systems pharmacology ready to impact upon therapy development? A study on the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway British Journal of Pharmacology 174 23 4362-4382 (2017)  

Chemaly, Melody; McGilligan, Victoria; Gibson, Mark; Clauss, Matthias; Watterson, Steven; Alexander, H Denis; Bjourson, Anthony John; Peace, Aaron; Role of tumour necrosis factor alpha converting enzyme (TACE/ADAM17) and associated proteins in coronary artery disease and cardiac events Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases 110 12 700-711 (2017)

Gibson DS, Drain S, Kelly C, McGilligan V, McClean P, Atkinson SD, Murray E, McDowell A, Conway C, Watterson S, Bjourson AJ. Coincidence versus consequence: opportunities in multi-morbidity research and inflammation as a pervasive feature Expert Review of Precision Medicine and Drug Development 2-3 147-56 (2017) 

2016
Parton, Andrew; McGilligan, Victoria; O’Kane, Maurice; Baldrick, Francina R; Watterson, Steven; Computational modelling of atherosclerosis Briefings in Bioinformatics 17 4 562-575 (2016)  

Robertson, Kevin A; Hsieh, Wei Yuan; Forster, Thorsten; Blanc, Mathieu; Lu, Hongjin; Crick, Peter J; Yutuc, Eylan; Watterson, Steven; Martin, Kimberly; Griffiths, Samantha J; An Interferon Regulated MicroRNA Provides Broad Cell-Intrinsic Antiviral Immunity through Multihit Host-Directed Targeting of the Sterol Pathway PLoS Biol 14 3 e1002364 (2016) 

Henderson, Raymond; O’Kane, Maurice; McGilligan, Victoria; Watterson, Steven; The genetics and screening of familial hypercholesterolaemia Journal of Biomedical Science 23 1 39 (2016)

2015
Lu, Hongjin; Talbot, Simon; Robertson, Kevin A; Watterson, Steven; Forster, Thorsten; Roy, Douglas; Ghazal, Peter; Rapid proteasomal elimination of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase by interferon-γ in primary macrophages requires endogenous 25-hydroxycholesterol synthesis Steroids 99 219-229 (2015)

2013
Watterson, Steven; Guerriero, Maria Luisa; Blanc, Mathieu; Mazein, Alexander; Loewe, Laurence; Robertson, Kevin A; Gibbs, Holly; Shui, Guanghou; Wenk, Markus R; Hillston, Jane; A model of flux regulation in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway: Immune mediated graduated flux reduction versus statin-like led stepped flux reduction Biochimie 95 3 613-621 (2013) 

Blanc, Mathieu; Hsieh, Wei Yuan; Robertson, Kevin A; Kropp, Kai A; Forster, Thorsten; Shui, Guanghou; Lacaze, Paul; Watterson, Steven; Griffiths, Samantha J; Spann, Nathanael J; The transcription factor STAT-1 couples macrophage synthesis of 25-hydroxycholesterol to the interferon antiviral response Immunity 38 1 106-118 (2013)

Mazein, Alexander; Watterson, Steven; Hsieh, Wei-Yuan; Griffiths, William J; Ghazal, Peter; A comprehensive machine-readable view of the mammalian cholesterol biosynthesis pathway Biochemical Pharmacology 86 1 56-66 (2013)
 
Ghazal, Peter; Mazein, Alexander; Watterson, Steven; Angulo, Ana; Kropp, Kai A; A Systems Pathway View of Cytomegalovirus Infection Cytomegaloviruses: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Intervention 1 109 (2013) Horizon Scientific Press

2012
Akman, Ozgur E; Watterson, Steven; Parton, Andrew; Binns, Nigel; Millar, Andrew J; Ghazal, Peter; Digital clocks: simple Boolean models can quantitatively describe circadian systems Journal of The Royal Society Interface 9 74 2365-2382 (2012) 

2011
Blanc, Mathieu; Hsieh, Wei Yuan; Robertson, Kevin A; Watterson, Steven; Shui, Guanghou; Lacaze, Paul; Khondoker, Mizanur; Dickinson, Paul; Sing, Garwin; Rodríguez-Martín, Sara; Host defense against viral infection involves interferon mediated down-regulation of sterol biosynthesis PLoS Biology 9 3 455 (2011)
  
Loewe, Laurence; Guerriero, Maria; Watterson, Steven; Moodie, Stuart; Ghazal, Peter; Hillston, Jane; Translation from the quantified implicit process flow abstraction in SBGN-PD diagrams to Bio-PEPA illustrated on the cholesterol pathway Transactions on computational systems biology XIII 13-38 (2011)

Ghazal, Peter; Watterson, Steven; Robertson, Kevin; Kluth, David C; The in silico macrophage: toward a better understanding of inflammatory disease Genome Med 3 1 4 (2011)
  
Mazein, Alexander; Watterson, Steven; Gibbs, Holly C; Hsieh, Wayne; Abdullah, Mohammed Ba; Blanc, Mathieu; Griffiths, William J; Freeman, Tom C; Ghazal, Peter; Regulation and feedback of cholesterol metabolism Nature Precedings 713 (2011) 
 
2010
Raza, Sobia; McDerment, Neil; Lacaze, Paul A; Robertson, Kevin; Watterson, Steven; Chen, Ying; Chisholm, Michael; Eleftheriadis, George; Monk, Stephanie; O'Sullivan, Maire; Construction of a large scale integrated map of macrophage pathogen recognition and effector systems BMC systems biology 4 1 1-18 (2010)

Watterson, Steven; Ghazal, Peter; Use of logic theory in understanding regulatory pathway signaling in response to infection Future Microbiology 5 2 163-176 (2010)
  
Mazein, Alexander; Watterson, Steven; Ghazal, Peter; Transcriptional complex assembly represented in SBGN PD Nature Precedings 713 (2010) 

Le Novere, Nicolas; Hucka, Michael; Mi, Huaiyu; Moodie, Stuart; Schreiber, Falk; Sorokin, Anatoly; Demir, Emek; Wegner, Katja; Aladjem, Mirit I; Wimalaratne, Sarala M; The systems biology graphical notation Nature Biotechnology 27 8 735-741 (2009) 
 
2008
Watterson, Steven; Marshall, Stephen; Ghazal, Peter; Logic models of pathway biology Drug Discovery Today 13 09-Oct 447-456 (2008) 

Yu, Le; Watterson, Steven; Marshall, Stephen; Ghazal, Peter; Inferring Boolean networks with perturbation from sparse gene expression data: a general model applied to the interferon regulatory network Molecular BioSystems 4 10 1024-1030 (2008)

NIHR-AIMS, 01/02/2021-31/08/2021, £117,076,
NovoNordisk, 2020-2023, £34,540
RPB, 03/30-03/21, £60,177
Horizon2020, 2015-2020, £469,470
Wellcome Trust, 2019, £2,000
Wellcome Trust, 2017, £2,000
Wellcome Trust, 2016, £2,000
Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, 2018, £1,000
Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, 2016, £1,000
Microsoft Azure for Research, 2017, £18,056
Framework Programme 7, 2015, £4,514
Garfield Weston Trust & The Ireland Funds, 2015, £20,500
The Edinburgh Campaign, 2011, £2,500
BBSRC/Moray Endowment, 2009-10, £4,200
The Scottish Bioinformatics Forum, 2008-9, £5,000

PhD
Current
Christopher Page - Improving the screening and diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolaemia
Matthew Ennis - Identifying biomarkers that may affect diabetes comorbidity
Gerard Doherty - Emergency Healthcare Economics: An analysis of clinical care pathways, cost and health outcomes.


Former
Dr Andrew Parton - The dynamics of cholesterol metabolism and atherosclerosis across population subgroups
Dr Muhamad Fairus Noor Hassim - Bimodal switch silences cytomegalovirus in macrophages through a Stat1 feed-forward repression mechanism. 


BSc
Dominic Harper - The relationship between the Vitamin D and Cholesterol metabolisms 
Ciaran White - The interconnectedness between Interferon signalling and the Circadian Oscillator
Jack Faulkner - Towards a point-of care urine test for non-coding RNA biomarkers of prostate cancer (PCa) with synthetic biology
Chun Sing Luke - Towards a point-of care urine test for non-coding RNA biomarkers of prostate cancer (PCa) with synthetic biology
Adam Quinn - Towards a point-of care urine test for non-coding RNA biomarkers of prostate cancer (PCa) with synthetic biology
Joshua Montgomery - Towards a point-of care urine test for non-coding RNA biomarkers of prostate cancer (PCa) with synthetic biology
Jessican Ingram - Developing disease biosensors with synthetic biology

Steven is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He current serves as lecturer on the BSc and MSc degrees in Stratified Medicine.

Associate Course Director: BSc Personalised Medicine. 

Module Coordinator  
BIO123 – Mathematical and Computational Methods (BSc Personalised Medicine)
BIO826 – Mathematical and Computational Methods (MSc Personalised Medicine)

Lecturer/Tutor
BIO123 – Mathematical and Computational Methods (BSc Personalised Medicine)
BIO826 – Mathematical and Computational Methods (MSc Personalised Medicine)
BIO535 – Multi-omics and Systems Biology (BSc Personalised Medicine)

Moderator/Examiner
BIO123 – Mathematical and Computational Methods (BSc Personalised Medicine)
BIO826 – Mathematical and Computational Methods (MSc Personalised Medicine)
BIO337 – Statistical and Computing Methods (BSc Personalised Medicine)
BIO540 – Clinical Research Project (BSc Personalised Medicine)
BIO537 – Clinical or Fundamental Research Design (BSc Personalised Medicine)
BIO833 – Research Project (MSc Personalised Medicine)
BMS809 – MSc Research Project (MSc Biomedical Science) 
BMS505 – Investigsative Project (BSc Biomedical Science)