Peter Darlington, PhD

Training and Previous Positions

2005-2008 Postodoctoral Fellow, Montreal Neurological Institute (McGill University)

2008-2011 Research Associate, Montreal Neurological Institute (McGill University)

2011-2016 Assistant Professor (Concordia University)

2016-current Associate Professor (Concordia University)

Education

1994-1998 B.Sc. Honors Biochemistry and Chemistry (The University of Western Ontario)

1998-2005 Ph.D. Microbiology and Immunology (The University of Western Ontario)

Research interests

Theme: Immunology
Secondary Theme: Autonomic nervous system

2017- Concordia University Science College, Fellow

Teaching statement

“My hope is to teach students to science in a way that they are not familiar with. We are in the midst of a scientific revolution; major discoveries continue to be made that change the way we think about traditional scientific subjects. By using a combination of traditional and outside-the-box teaching methods I try to inspire students to learn not just for the sake of learning but because they are inspired by the material. My lectures aim to blend ‘textbook facts’ with new information. In this way the students will leave Concordia with a cutting edge knowledge base and way of thinking that will help them succeed in whatever endeavor they pursue.”

Courses taught

*EXCI461/2    Pharmacology for Sport and Exercise    undergraduate 
    Current Issues in Physical, Biological and Mathematical Sciences    undergraduate

Publications

2.    Mehri Hajiaghayi, Fatemeh Gholizadeh, Niloufar Rahbari, Negaralsadat Emamnia, Steve C.C. Shih, Peter J. Darlington “Nebivolol prevents exhausted T cells and enhances cytotoxicity against MCF-7 breast cancer cells in a β2-adrenergic receptor-dependent manner” Clinical & Experimental Immunology, Accepted  in press March 2026

3.    Samuel R. Little, Niloufar Rahbari, Fatemeh Gholizadeh, Mehri Hajiaghayi, Fanny-Mei Cloarec-Ung, Joel Phillips, Hugo Sinha, Alison Hirukawa, David JHF Knapp, Peter J. Darlington, Steve C.C. Shih. A Digital Microfluidic Platform for the Microscale Production of Functional Immune Cell Therapies. 2025 Analytical Chemistry, 2025, 97 (21), 11026-11034, DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c06911

4.    Fatemeh Gholizadeh, Mehri Hajiaghayi, Jennifer S. Choi, Samuel R. Little, Niloufar Rahbari, Kelly Brotto, Eric Han, Steve C.C. Shih, Peter J. Darlington, Modulatory Effects of M3 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor on Inflammatory Profiles of Human Memory T Helper Cells. The Journal of Immunology. 2025, V00, p 1-12, https://doi.org/10.1093/jimmun/vkaf086

5.    Ana Baez; Davindra Singh; Stephanie He; Mehri Hajiaghayi; Fatemeh Gholizadeh; Peter J. Darlington, Brandon Helfield, Immunomodulation of Human T cells by Microbubble-Mediated Focused Ultrasound, 2024. Frontiers in Immunology, 2024 V15 p 1-14, DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1486744

6.    Mehri Hajiaghayi, Fatemeh Gholizadeh, Eric Han, Samuel R. Little, Niloufar Rahbari, Isabella Ardila, Carolina Lopez Naranjo, Kasra Tehranimeh, Steve C.C. Shih, Peter J. Darlington, β2-Adrenergic Biased Agonist Inhibits the Development of Th17 and the Response of Memory Th17 Cells in an NF-κB-Dependent Manner. Frontiers in Immunology, 2024 V15, p 1-14 DOI 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1446424

7.    Samuel R. Little, Ziuwin Leung, Angela B.V. Quach, Alison Hirukawa, Fatemeh Gholizadeh, Mehri Hajiaghayi, Peter J. Darlington, Steve C.C. Shih, A Tri-Droplet Liquid Structure for Highly Efficient Intracellular Delivery in Primary Mammalian Cells Using Digital Microfluidics, Advanced Materials Technologies, 2023, 8 (21) 1-15 online https://doi.org/10.1002/ admt.202300719

8.    Catalina Marysol Carvajal Gonczi*, Mehri Hajiaghayi*, Fatemeh Gholizadeh, Maria Auxiliadora Xavier Soares, Fadi Touma, Carolina Lopez Naranjo, Amanda J. Rios, Chelsea Pozzebon, Tina Daigneault, Kelly Burchell-Reyes, Peter J. Darlington, The β2-adrenergic receptor agonist terbutaline upregulates T helper-17 cells in a protein kinase A-dependent manner, Human Immunology, 2023, Oct;84(10):515-524 *shared 1st author, DOI: 10.1016/j.humimm.2023.06.007 

9.    Pablo Godoy, Peter J. Darlington, Malcolm Whiteway. Genetic screening of Candida albicans inactivation mutants identifies new genes involved in macrophage-fungal cell interactions. Frontiers Microbiology. 05 April 2022, volume 13, doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.833655 

10.    Catalina Marysol Carvajal Gonczi, Fadi Touma, Tina Daigneault, Chelsea Pozzebon, Kelly Burchell-Reyes, Peter J. Darlington. Modulation of IL-17A and IFNγ by β2-adrenergic agonist terbutaline and inverse-agonist nebivolol, influence of ADRB2 polymorphisms. AIMS Allergy and Immunology, 2021, Volume 5, Issue 4: 222-239. doi: 10.3934/Allergy. 2021017