John Downs MD, MPH

Education

BS, Virginia Military Institute
MD, USUHS
MPH, USUHS

Biography

COL John W. Downs is an active duty U.S. Army physician who has served the military for more than 20 years. He currently serves as an Associate Professor and Associate Program Director of the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). COL Downs grew up on a farm in middle Tennessee and then attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) for undergraduate studies. Upon graduation from VMI, COL Downs was commissioned as a U.S. Army infantry officer and served two years before attending medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). COL Downs completed residency training in internal medicine at Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, and in occupational & environmental medicine at USUHS, where he also completed a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree. COL Downs also completed a 2-year fellowship in medical toxicology at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System-Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. His military medical experience includes several tours as senior medical officer to special operations and light infantry units to include deployments to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. COL Downs’s public health experience includes service as Chief of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and most recently as Chief, Occupational & Environmental Medicine Service, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center during the COVID-19 pandemic. COL Downs is board certified in internal medicine, occupational medicine, and medical toxicology. COL Downs also holds allied health certifications as a certified public health professional (CPH), and Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT). COL Downs is a recipient of the Army Surgeon General’s 9A Proficiency Designation in occupational and environmental medicine. He has authored more than 25 peer-reviewed publications. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. His research interests include clinical assessment of occupational poisonings.

Career Highlights: Positions, Projects, Deployements, Awards and Additional Publications

Command Surgeon, NATO Special Operations Component Command - Afghanistan (NSOCC-A)/Special Operations Joint Task Force - Afghanistan (SOJTF-A)

Chief, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland

Chief, Department of Preventive Medicine and Installation Public Health Emergency Officer, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

Representative Bibliography

Downs JW, Wills BK, Cumpston KL, Rose SR. Descriptive Epidemiology of Clinically Significant Occupational Poisonings in the United States, 2008-2018. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2021 Mar 11;1-9. PMID: 33703981.

Downs JW, Cumpston KL, Kershner EK, Troendle MM, Rose SR, Wills BK. Clinical outcomes of “massive” APAP overdose treated with standard-dose N-acetylcysteine. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2021 Feb 23:1-8. PMID: 33620007.

Ross JA, Downs JW (corresponding author), et al. Outbreak of Severe Hypoglycemia After Ingestion of a Male Enhancement Supplement - Virginia, August-November 2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020 Jun 19;69(24):740-743. PMID: 32555139.

Downs JW, Flood DT, Orr NH, Constantineau JA, Caviness JW. Sandfly fever in Afghanistan-a sometimes overlooked disease of military importance: a case series and review of the literature. US Army Med Dep J. 2017 Oct-Dec;(3-17):60-66. PMID: 29214621.

Grasso IA, Blattner MR, Shishido AA, Short T, Downs JW. Severe Systemic Lead Toxicity due to Extra-Articular Retained Shrapnel Presenting as Jaundice and Hepatitis. Military Medicine. 2017 Mar; 182(3):e1843-e1848. PMID: 28290970.