Professor Watt is Professor of General Practice and Primary Care at the University of Glasgow, where he served as Head of Department of General Practice from 1994-2009.After hospital posts in Shetland, Leicester, Aberdeen and Nottingham, Professor Watt sought to combine training in epidemiology and general practice, moving to work with Dr Julian Tudor Hart at Glyncorrwg in South Wales, where they carried out a challenging series of community studies on the effect of dietary salt intake on blood pressure.Moving to the community paediatrics scheme in Edinburgh, Professor Watt completed vocational training at Townhead Health Centre in Glasgow. During the next decade, he established the Glasgow WHO MONICA Project Centre, gained accreditation in public health medicine and worked first as a research manager for health services research in the Scottish Chief Scientist Office and then as a senior lecturer in public health at Glasgow University.Since 1994, he has been Professor of General Practice and Primary Care at University of Glasgow - combining and requiring experience in medical education, clinical medicine, epidemiology, research management and public health advocacy.Professor Watt is Lead Coordinator of the Deep End Project, involving the 100 most deprived general practices in Scotland. He also served as Elected Chair, Heads of Departments Group, UK University Departments of General Practice and Primary Care (2001-2004), and has been the Fellowship Panel for Public Health, Primary Care, Epidemiology, Statistics and Psychiatry, UK Academy of Medical Sciences (2004-2006).
