Talk:John E. Dowling

Edit request from VRT ticket

• What I think should be changed (include citations):

Changes for Wikipedia article on JOHN E. DOWLING

John E. Dowling is an American neuroscientist and the Gordon and Llura Gund Professor of Neurosciences Emeritus at Harvard University. He is best known for his seminal work on vitamin A, having identified the active metabolite, except for vision, of vitamin A (retinoic acid), and in the visual sciences on the functional organization of the vertebrate retina, as well as diseases that affect vision such as vitamin A deficiency, inherited retinal degenerations and macular telangietasia.. (2) He was a pioneer in the elucidation of retinal neuromodulatory mechanisms, especially the role of dopamine in the retina, and in the use of zebrafish for forward genetic studies involving vision. (rest of paragraph OK as well as EDUCATION section.

CAREER From 1961 to 1964, he was Assistant Professor of Biology at Harvard University, from 1964 to 1966 , Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Biophysics from 1966-1971. From 1961-1971, he was a Lecturer in the Lancaster Course in Ophthalmology, Co-director of the Neurobiology Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory, 1970-1974, Professor of Biology at Harvard University, 1971-1987, Chairman of the Department of Biology, Harvard University, 1975-1978, Overseas Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge (1978-1979), Acting Master of North House, Harvard University, 1979-1980, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science for Natural Sciences, Harvard University,1980-1984, Master of Leverett House, Harvard University, 1981-1998 (7, 8).

Dowling served as Associate Editor for Cellular Neurobiology, Journal of Neuroscience, 1989-1994, Council of the Society of Neuroscience, 1980 -1984, Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences Commission on Life Sciences, 1985-1988, Governing Board of the National Research Council, 1985-1988 and 1994-1997, Scientific Advisory Board of the Whitney Marine Biology Laboratory, 1986-1991, Executive Committee of the Marine Biological Laboratory, 1974-1976 and 1988-1990, Council of the National Eye Institute, 1986-1990, Medical Advisory Board of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1989-1992, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Trustee, 1991-1998, Chair of the FASEB Summer Conference on Biology, Chemistry and Modeling vision, 1992; Council of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, 1993-1995, Council of the National Academy of Sciences, 1993-1997, and President of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, 1996-1997.

Dowling was a Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Trustee from 1986-2024, a member of the Scientific Board of the Foundation for Fighting Blindness from 1971- 1985, the Scientific Advisory Board of the Research to Prevent Blindness, 1991 - 2010, the Scientific Advisory Board of the Knights Templar Research Foundation, 1991-1995, Educational Advisory Board of the John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 1991-1995, Scientific Advisory Board of the Center for Neural Science , New York University, 1992-2015, Board of Directors of the Harvard University Press, 1997-2017, and President of the Corporation of the Marine Biological Laboratory , 1998-2008. From 2008-2018, he was Chair of the Lasker and International Retinal Research Foundations Initiative in Vision science, and Chair of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Foundation (2000 –2005) AWARDS

Dowling was awarded the Friedenwald Medal by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (1970), Annual Award of the New England Ophthalmological Society (1979), the Retina Research Foundation Award of Merit (1981), the Alcon Research Institute Recognition award (1986,) the Prentice Medal of the American Academy of Optometry (1991). Von Sallman prize from the International Society for Vision Research(1992), Helen Keller Foundation Prize for Vision Research (2000), Llura Ligget Gund Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Foundation Fighting Blindness (2001), Paul Kayser International Award in Retina Research (2008), Glen Fry Medal in Physiological Optics, (2009), Muse Medal from the Eye and Ear Foundation (2015) and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Marine Biological Laboratory (2016) .

Dowling was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1972), Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences (1976) and the American Philosophical Society (1993). He received an honorary MD from Lund University (1982), an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Dalhousie University (2012), and a D.Sci (Hon) from the State University of New York (2015)

BOOKS

• Dowling, J.E. “The Retina: An Approachable Part of the Brain”, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (1987); Revised edition (2012).
• Dowling, J.E. “ Neurons and Networks: An Introduction to Neuroscience”. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (1992); 2nd edition (2001 )
• Dowling, J.E. “Creating Mind: How the Brain Works”. W.W. Norton & Co., New York, NY (1998)
• Dowling, J.E. “ The Great Brain Debate: Nature or Nurture? ”, Joseph Henry Press, National Academy of Sciences, Washington D.C. (2004); paperback edition, Princeton University Press Princeton N.J. (2007)
• Dowling, J.E. and Dowling, J.L. “ Vision: How it Works and What Can Go Wrong” . MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (2016)
• Dowling, J.E. “Understanding the Brain: From Cells to Behavior to Cognition” W.W. Norton & Co., New York NY ( 2018)

EDITED VOLUMES. – all OK

JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS

Total of 283 from 1958-2024

REFERENCES

Add: Dowling, J.E. “A Life in Vision”. Annual Review of Vision Science, 4: 1-23, 2018

• Why it should be changed:

The above is posted on behalf of John E. Dowling, the subject of the article, per ticket:2025021410010341. He gave the reason: "The reasons I am suggesting the changes is that some statements in the article are wrong, and secondly, I wish to bring the article up to date. At present the article is about 20 years out of date." The above text is released under CC-by-sa-4.0 and GFDL per the aformentioned ticket.

--Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 19:12, 25 February 2025 (UTC)

References