Eric Downer

Biography

Dr. Eric Downer is an Assistant Professor in Human Health and Disease at TCD (appointed June 2015), and acts as Director of the Human Health and Disease BSc programme. He is currently involved in teaching Physiology to Medical, Physiology, Allied Health Science and Human Health and Disease BSc students. Dr. Downer graduated from TCD with a first class honours degree in Physiology (2001) and a Ph.D in Neuroscience (2005). He began his postdoctoral research career in the Physiology department at TCD with Prof. Marina Lynch (2005 - 2008) and was subsequently awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from IRCSET that enabled him to develop his own research programme based at the Institute of Immunology, NUI Maynooth (2008 - 2010). In 2011 he returned as a senior research fellow with Prof. Marina Lynch at TCIN, also acting as co-ordinator of the PRTLI PhD programme at TCD (2012). He was appointed to his first academic position in UCC in January 2013, where he was a lecturer and PI in the Dept. Anatomy and Neuroscience (Jan 2013 - May 2015) and also the Director of the Biosciences Imaging Centre (June 2014 - May 2015). In June 2015 he was appointed as Assistant Prof. at TCD, where he also acts as Director of the Human Health and Disease BSc programme. He leads an active research group and his research has been funded by the IRC, HRB, the Physiological Society and the British Neuropathological Society. To date he has published 34 articles (32 peer-reviewed journals; 16 first author, 11 senior author; 2 book chapters) and over 50 conference proceedings. Dr. Downer has been honoured with the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland Early Career Award in 2009, the Neuroscience Ireland Early Career Investigator Award in 2013 and a Deans Award for Teaching and Learning (TCD; 2016).

Research Interest

My research background is in neuroimmunology, and I interested in how neuroimmune interactions are controlled under normal physiological conditions and disease states. My laboratory is particularly interested in the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and have published data demonstrating that cells associated with MS pathology display evidence of altered innate immune signalling signatures that may be linked directly with disease pathology. Specifically, my research efforts have focused on Toll-like Receptor (TLR) signalling, and my interest in this area is harboured by the established role of TLRs in innate immunity, in addition to emerging evidence that TLRs are implicated as pivotal players in the pathogenesis of neuroinflammatory disorders including MS. My long-term goal is to consolidate a research group that conducts patient-orientated research by investigating the links between cellular innate immune signalling signatures in peripheral blood cells and the impact of disease on central read-outs of cognition, pain, depression and neurologic disability. By conducting such investigations my research team aims to (a) delineate the role of the innate immune system in disease progression and symptomatology and, (b) investigate the impact of novel therapeutic strategies (cannabinoid-based drugs and exercise) on innate immune responses and disease symptoms in patients. To address this I have built clinical collaborations with Neurologists to access patient cohorts and have begun to profile innate immune profiles with disease parameters in MS patient cohorts. Media articles on my research: Irish Examiner http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/irish-scientists-leading-street-drug-research-229863.html Irish Times http://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/medical-marvel-the-uses-of-cannabis-continue-to-grow-1.2169988 Summary of research interests: Neuroimmunology Multiple Sclerosis Innate immune signalling Cannabinoid pharmacology Neuropathology Neuropathic orofacial pain Novel teaching innovations Funding: IRC HRB Physiological Society British Neuropathological Society