Home | The Mike Watson Lega

Mike Watson, who died suddenly in August 2022, had a towering and hungry intellect. Everything he did was infused with enthusiasm and curiosity. Trained as a physician, he led programmes in clinical development, vaccine discovery, vaccination policy, epidemiology and behavioural science. He had a remarkable ability to synthesise insights from different fields and, through unbiased and original thinking, he nurtured paradigm shifts in the field of vaccinology. Mike had so much more to contribute to the 'Vaccination Ecosystem' he described so well.

To continue Mike’s legacy and celebrate his life, his family, friends and colleagues have set up The Mike Watson Memorial Bursary to sponsor a student at the two-week Advanced Course of Vaccinology (ADVAC).

The Mike Watson Memorial Bursary aims to finance an annual bursary covering registration, accommodation, and travel costs for one participant from countries with limited resources, not from industry, selected according to predefined criteria (experience in vaccinology, motivation, publications, and recommendations).

If you would like to support this initiative in Mike’s name, you can make a donation to the Mérieux Foundation using one of the following buttons:

UK and French taxpayers: Click here

US taxpayers: Click here

US and French donations are tax-deductable. As the Mérieux Foundation is not registered in the UK charity, Gift Aid tax relief cannot be donated. All funds donated will go directly to students supported by the Mike Watson Memorial Bursary with no deductions for administration or management costs.

Helen, Evie and Oliver would like to thank Mike’s colleagues, especially Angus Thomson and Hamilton Bennett, and also the Mérieux Foundation, Geneva University and ADVAC organisers for their time and enthusiasm in helping set up this initiative. They would also like to thank everyone for their support and friendship over the last year.