Dr. John Dowling
Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Curator and author
Featured Author: John E. Dowling
John E. Dowling (b. August 31, 1935, in Pawtucket, RI, USA) received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. He taught in the Biology Department at Harvard from 1961 to 1964, first as an Instructor, then as Assistant Professor. In 1964 he moved to Johns Hopkins University, where he held an appointment as Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Biophysics. He returned to Harvard as Professor of Biology in 1971, was the Maria Moors Cabot Professor of Natural Sciences from 1971-2001, Harvard College Professor from 1999-2004, and is presently the Gordon and Llura Gund Professor of Neuroscience.
For his achievements Prof. Dowling has received numerous awards including the Friedenwald Medal from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the Annual Award of the New England Ophthalmological Society, the Retinal Research Foundation Award, an Alcon Vision Research Recognition Award, the National Eye Institute’s Merit Award, the Von Sallman Prize, the Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research, and the Llura Ligget Gund Award for Lifetime Achievement and Recognition of Contribution to the Foundation Fighting Blindness. He was granted an honorary M.D. degree by the University of Lund (Sweden) in 1982. Prof. Dowling is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a member of the American Philosophical Society.
Prof. Dowling's research interests have focused on the vertebrate retina as a model piece of the brain. He and his collaborators have long been interested in the functional organization of the retina, studying its synaptic organization, the electrical responses of the retinal neurons, and the mechanisms underlying neurotransmission and neuromodulation in the retina. His current research using the zebrafish model focuses on retinal development and the design of behavioral tests to isolate genetic mutations that are specific to the visual system. For more information, visit http://www.mcb.harvard.edu/Faculty/Dowling.html.
Scholarpedia articles:
- Retina. Scholarpedia, 2(12):3487
(Author profile by Abdellatif Nemri)
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