Michael Dowling, M.D., Ph.D. Professor School Medical School Department Pediatrics | Neurology You have reached the Academic Profile. For more information on the doctor and patient care, please visit the clinical profile. Biography Michael Dowling, M.D., Ph.D. is a Pediatric Neurologist who specializes in pediatric stroke and neurovascular disorders as well as the neurologic complications of sickle cell disease. He came to UT Southwestern to complete his Pediatric and Pediatric Neurology fellowship training after completing his A.B. at Harvard College (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, cum laude), and completing his M.D. and Ph.D. (Biochemistry) at Columbia University where he had the remarkable experience of completing graduate courses with two subsequent Nobel Laureates, Martin Chalfie and Eric Kandel and completing his doctoral dissertation with subsequent Nobel Laureates Richard Axel and Linda Buck, cloning and characterizing olfactory receptors. He gained additional training in clinical research as NIH/NHLBI-funded Sickle Cell Scholar and then as a member of the UTSW Clinical Scholars (K12/KL2) program, obtaining a Master’s of Science in Clinical Sciences, with distinction, from UTSW in 2009. He was promoted to Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology and Neurotherapeutics in 2012. Dr. Dowling has created one of the largest and most productive clinical and research programs for pediatric stroke in the country. He established a Pediatric Stroke clinic in 2003, the Pediatric Acute Stroke team in 2004, and co-authored clinical guidelines for the evaluation and management of children with stroke in for Children’s Medical Center and subsequent revisions and established an ACGME-accredited post graduate fellowship program in Pediatric stroke. Dr. Dowling is also a founding member of the Center for Cerebrovascular Disorders in Children (CCDC) at Children’s Health (in 2016) a collaborative group of neurologists, neurosurgeons, hematologists and neuroradiologists formed to improve the clinical care to children with stroke and other cerebrovascular disorders and includes a monthly clinical pediatric neurovascular conference for case review and education. His research focuses on stroke in children and the neurologic complications of sickle cell disease. He is an active member and lead enroller in the International Pediatric Stroke Study, with over 450 patients of the >5000 total enrolled at 65 centers around the world. Dr. Dowling was first author of one of the primary analyses of the dataset, cardiac causes of stroke. He currently serves on the IPSS Publication Committee and participates in many other multicenter studies. He also has a long-standing interest in ethical issues in neurology. He is a member of the Children’s Ethics Committee (since 2006) and served on the Ethics Committee of the Child Neurology Society from 2012-2016 and served as Topic Chair for the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting Sessions on Ethics in 2008-2011. In an ongoing educational innovation with students and residents, since 2007, he has actively engaged over 600 medical students on service in the clinic. This included a reading assignment of the play, Joe Egg, by Peter Nichols, which explores the difficulties encountered by parents caring for a child with a severe brain injury and intractable epilepsy. He has developed and presented Ethics CME lectures at multiple venues on separate topics of ethical concerns in pediatric gene therapy, brain death, and the care of neurologically devastated children. Education Other Post Graduate Training Columbia University in the City of New York (1989) Graduate School Columbia University in the City of New York (1989) Other Post Graduate Training Columbia University in the City of New York (1993) Graduate School Columbia University in the City of New York (1993) Medical School Columbia University (1995) Internship Children's Medical Center Dallas (1996), Pediatrics Residency Children's Medical Center Dallas (1997), Pediatrics Residency UT Southwestern Medical Center (2000), Pediatric Neurology Graduate School UT Southwestern Medical Center (2009) Other Post Graduate Training UT Southwestern Medical Center (2009) Research Interest Alternative etiologies for stroke in sickle cell disease Cerebrovascular disease Neurologic complications of sickle cell disease Neurologic injury in children with acute anemia Pediatric stroke Sturge-Weber syndrome Publications Featured Publications Advances in Understanding Ischemic Stroke Physiology and the Impact of Vasculopathy in Children With Sickle Cell Disease. Guilliams KP, Fields ME, Dowling MM Stroke 2019 Feb 50 2 266-273 Dynamic Arterial Compression in Pediatric Vertebral Arterial Dissection. Rollins N, Braga B, Hogge A, Beavers S, Dowling M Stroke 2017 Apr 48 4 1070-1073 Stroke in sickle cell anaemia is more than stenosis and thrombosis: the role of anaemia and hyperemia in ischaemia. Dowling MM, Kirkham FJ Br. J. Haematol. 2016 Nov Increased prevalence of potential right-to-left shunting in children with sickle cell anaemia and stroke. Dowling MM, Quinn CT, Ramaciotti C, Kanter J, Osunkwo I, Inusa B, Iyer R, Kwiatkowski JL, Johnson C, Rhodes M, Owen W, Strouse JJ, Panepinto JA, Neumayr L, Sarnaik S, Plumb PA, Dlamini N, Kirkham F, Hynan LS Br. J. Haematol. 2016 Oct Guidelines for Urgent Management of Stroke in Children. Rivkin MJ, Bernard TJ, Dowling MM, Amlie-Lefond C Pediatr. Neurol. 2016 Mar 56 8-17 Brainstem Strokes in Children: An 11-Year Series From a Tertiary Pediatric Center. Rollins N, Pride GL, Plumb PA, Dowling MM Pediatr. Neurol. 2013 Sep Acute silent cerebral ischemia and infarction during acute anemia in children with and without sickle cell disease. Dowling MM, Quinn CT, Plumb P, Rogers ZR, Rollins NK, Koral K, Buchanan GR Blood 2012 Nov 120 19 3891-7 Characteristics and Outcome in Children With Craniectomy Following Acute Ischemic Stroke in the International Pediatric Stroke Study. Lehman LL, DeVeber G, Pergami P, Guilliams KP, Chung M, Felling R, Dowling MM, Rivkin MJ, J. Child Neurol. 2019 Jul 883073819855534 Arterial Ischemic Stroke Secondary to Cardiac Disease in Neonates and Children. Chung MG, Guilliams KP, Wilson JL, Beslow LA, Dowling MM, Friedman NR, Hassanein SMA, Ichord R, Jordan LC, Mackay MT, Rafay MF, Rivkin M, Torres M, Zafeiriou D, deVeber G, Fox CK, Pediatr. Neurol. 2019 Jun Arteriopathy Influences Pediatric Ischemic Stroke Presentation, but Sickle Cell Disease Influences Stroke Management. Guilliams KP, Kirkham FJ, Holzhauer S, Pavlakis S, Philbrook B, Amlie-Lefond C, Noetzel MJ, Dlamini N, Sharma M, Carpenter JL, Fox CK, Torres M, Ichord RN, Jordan LC, Dowling MM, Stroke 2019 May 50 5 1089-1094 Results 1-10 of 66 1 2 3 4 5 Next Last Books Featured Books Cerebral Vasculopathies. In Rosenberg RN, Pascual JN, eds. Rosenberg's Molecular and Genetic Basis of Neurological and Psychiatric Disease. 6th ed. Dowling MM, Felling RJ. (2020). Elsevier; 1211-1219. Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (Osler-Weber-Rendu). In Roach ES, Miller VS, eds. Neurocutaneous Disorders. Dowling MM. (2004). Cambridge University Press; 159-165. Autism. In Curatolo P, ed. Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: From Basic Science to Clinical Phenotypes. 1st ed. Dowling M, Curatolo P. (2003). London: Mac Keith Press; 91-108. Honors & Awards Pediatric Neurology Resident Teaching Award "Golden Boots" (2018) Texas Super DoctorsTexas Monthly Magazine (2017) Best Pediatric Specialists/Doctors in DallasD Magazine (2010-2013) (2015-2018) Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society Award (2014) Trephined Cranium Award for Outstanding TeachingUT Southwestern Medical Center (2014) 8th Annual Excellence in Teaching AwardUT Southwestern Medical Center (2012) Core Clerkship Teaching AwardUT Southwestern Medical Center (2009) Innovations in Clinical Research AwardDoris Duke Charitable Foundation (2009) Professional Associations/Affiliations American Academy of Neurology (2001) American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (2007) Child Neurology Society (2002) Fellow, American Academy of Neurology
