DrJennifer Dowling

Dr Jennifer Dowling is a Lecturer in Immunology and Biotherapeutics in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). Dr Dowling is also Principal Investigator of the Brain inflammation Group Ireland (BIGie) @BrainInflamIE.
Dr Dowling obtained a BSc in Biotechnology from Dublin City University (DCU) and was awarded a postgraduate scholarship from the Irish Research Council to complete a PhD in Immunology at the University (2009). This work focused on the modulation of Toll-like Receptor complex 4 (TLR4) by fatty acids in macrophages. After completing her PhD, Dr Dowling joined Professor Luke O’Neill’s Inflammation Research Group in Trinity College Dublin where her research on macrophages continued examining the regulation of a potent inflammatory complex known as the, ‘the Inflammasome’ .
In 2013 Dr Dowling was recruited to the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia to further her work on inflammasomes and inflammatory responses in several disease states including hypertension, bacterial and viral infection. While there Dr Dowling secured both national and philanthropic funding to support her work (Angior Family Foundation; MS Australia).
Dr Dowling returned to Ireland in 2018 joining Dr Claire McCoy’s Group at RCSI working to elucidate pathways regulating the inflammatory status of macrophages in diseases models including multiple sclerosis. Dr Dowling was lead author on a paper describing the role for mitochondrial Arginase-2 (Arg2) in IL-10 mediated metabolic reprogramming of inflammatory macrophages (Dowling, JK, et al. Nat Comm). In 2020 Dr Dowling was also awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship for her project, ‘OxyBaby’, investigating novel treatments for hypoxic brain injuries that can lead to seizures and the development of Cerebral Palsy in newborns. A project Dr Dowling conceptualized and initiated while in Australia.
Dr Dowling now leads the Brain inflammation Group Ireland (BIGie) in the RCSI, Dublin, Ireland. Her group works to understand macrophage biology and particularly NeuroImmune interactions in the CNS and their influence on neurological outcomes of injury and disease. Dr Dowling is a council member of Neuroscience Ireland.