Rate My Professor Alanna Watt

Alanna Watt is a Professor in the Department of Biology at McGill University. She completed her PhD at Brandeis University in the Turrigiano lab, where she studied homeostatic synaptic plasticity. She then conducted postdoctoral research at University College London in the Häusser lab, focusing on cerebellar development. In 2011, she established her own laboratory at McGill University, with research centered on cerebellar development and plasticity in healthy brains as well as in animal models of disease. Her work examines brain function in health and in a family of neurodegenerative diseases known as ataxias, using animal models to investigate neuronal changes that contribute to disease onset and progression.

Professor Watt previously served as interim Chair of the Biology Department at McGill University and as Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Science. In July 2025, she assumed the role of Interim Dean of the Faculty of Science and was subsequently appointed Dean. She founded the Biology department’s EDI committee and is committed to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion at McGill. She will chair the Gordon Research Conference on the Cerebellum in 2025. Her professional email address is alanna.watt@mcgill.ca.