FutureNeuro Funded Investigator Dr Jennifer Dowling, Lecturer in Immunology and Biotherapeutics at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, has been awarded €791,428 through the Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future Programme to investigate a new therapeutic approach for epilepsy.  

The Frontiers for the Future Programme supports independent investigators to pursue ambitious, collaborative research with the potential for significant scientific and societal impact. 

Announcing the awards, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless, TD, said: 

“We are investing in cutting-edge, curiosity-driven research, and empowering individual researchers to progress bold ideas that can lead to groundbreaking discoveries. These awards demonstrate our dedication to building a diverse and inclusive research community that delivers impact for our society and economy. I look forward to seeing the development and outputs of these projects over the coming years.” 

The Research 

Epilepsy affects almost 40,000 people in Ireland, and around one in three do not respond to current anti-seizure medications. Dr Dowling’s four-year project, Arginase-2: A critical regulator of neuroinflammation and metabolism in epilepsy, will investigate a mitochondrial protein called Arginase-2 (ARG2). ARG2 plays a key role in helping the brain generate energy properly and maintain normal activity, while also regulating inflammation—two processes thought to play key roles in seizure activity. 

Her team will explore how restoring ARG2 function can repair disrupted energy pathways in the brain and test an ARG2-targeted therapy. This work represents a critical first step toward developing a treatment that could improve quality of life for people living with epilepsy. Her team has already found that ARG2 levels are reduced in brain tissue from people with temporal lobe epilepsy, and early studies suggest that restoring these levels may lessen seizure severity. 

“I’m thrilled to receive this significant investment from Research Ireland,” said Dr Dowling. “This funding will enable me to expand my research team and deepen our understanding of the metabolic changes that drive epilepsy. Ultimately, we aim to move closer to new treatment options for patients. It’s an exciting opportunity to advance both the science and my team’s development in this critical area.” 

Collaboration  

Dr Dowling will work closely with several FutureNeuro researchers, including Professor David Henshall, Director of the Centre, and Professor Mark Cunningham, Ellen Mayston Bates Professor of Neurophysiology of Epilepsy at Trinity College Dublin. 

“This is a superb example of the type of innovative, high-impact research that the Frontiers for the Future programme is designed to support,” said Professor Henshall. “Dr Dowling’s project integrates neuroscience, immunology, and metabolism in a way that could fundamentally change how we think about treating epilepsy.” 

The award will fund a postdoctoral researcher and PhD student over the project’s duration. As part of their commitment to public and patient involvement (PPI), the team will collaborate with Epilepsy Ireland to deliver activities that ensure the perspectives of people living with epilepsy help shape their research. 

Congratulations to Dr Dowling and her team from everyone at FutureNeuro.