Eric Downer

Affiliation(s):
Trinity College Dublin

Department:
Physiology

Research interests:
Embryology education; Inflammation; immune cells

PubMed Profile:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=DOWNER+ERIC&sort=date

ORCID Profile
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6012-2291

Biography

Dr. Eric Downer is an Associate Professor, Fellow & Associate Director of Research in the School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin. He graduated from TCD with a first class honours degree in Physiology (2001) and a PhD in Neuroscience (2005). He began his postdoctoral research career in the Physiology department at TCD (2005-2008) and was subsequently awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from IRCSET that enabled him to develop his own research programme based at the Inst. Immunology, NUI Maynooth (2008-2010). In 2011 he returned as a senior research fellow at the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, also acting as co-ordinator of the PRTLI structured PhD programme at TCD during this period (2012). He was appointed to his first academic position in University College Cork (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 Professor at TCD, where he also acted as Director of the Human Health and Disease BSc programme. He acted as the Director of the Human Health & Disease BSc programme from 2015-2024. In 2019 he was promoted to Associate Prof. He leads an active research group and his research has been funded by the Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Research Council, the Health Research Board, the Physiological Society, the British Neuropathological Society and Industry grants. To date he has published 57 peer-reviewed articles (18 first author, 30 last author) and 80+ 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, a Deans Award for Teaching and Learning (TCD; 2016, 2023), an Inspiring Educator Award (TCD; 2019) and is a recipient of the Trinity Excellence in Teaching Award (2021). He was elected to Fellowship at TCD (FTCD) in 2023.

Publications

O’Connor, C., Jordan, K., Vagg, T., Murphy, C.E., Barry, D.B., Toulouse, A., Fletcher, J., Downer, E.J. (2023) Animated teaching improves student learning of human gastrulation and neurulation. Annals Anatomy. 247:152057

Lone, M., McKenna, J.P., Cryan, J.F., Vagg, T., Toulouse, A., Downer, E.J.  (2018) Evaluation of an animation tool developed to supplement dental student study of the cranial nerves. Eur J Dent Education. 2(3):e427-e437

Cui Sun, M., Hackett, B., Otalora-Alcaraz, A., Downer, E.J. (2025) A 1:1 combination of cannabidiol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol inhibit toll-like receptor 7- and 8-mediated inflammation in human immune cells. European Journal of Pharmacology. Sep 15;1003:177878.