Gerry B. Downes, Ph.D

Dr. Downes is a Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass). Prior to joining the faculty at UMass, Dr. Downes received a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Washington University School of Medicine and postdoctoral training from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

His research has two related goals, both using developing zebrafish as a model system. One goal is to better understand how neural networks in the brain and spinal cord are assembled to control locomotion. More recently, due to a convergence of personal and professional reasons, he established a second goal, which is to provide new insights into epilepsies, like TBCK Syndrome, and develop new therapeutics to treat these disorders.

Across his career, Dr. Downes has won several awards for his research, including a Chancellor’s Graduate Fellowship at Washington University, a Merck/United Negro College Fund (UNCF) postdoctoral fellowship, and research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In addition to his research activities, Dr. Downes is very involved in teaching and science outreach. He won the Excellence in Diversity and Outreach Award from the UMass College of Natural Sciences in 2018 and was named as one of 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America by Cell Press in 2020. He serves on NSF and NIH grant review panels, the editorial boards for multiple journals, the Scientific Advisory Board for the Marine Biological Laboratory’s (MBL) Zebrafish course, and the TBCK Foundation Medical and Scientific Advisory Board. He is also one of the two directors of the MBL’s Summer Program In Neuroscience, Excellence, and Success (SPINES), a program for minoritized graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.