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Peter Darlington, PhD

Associate Professor, Health, Kinesiology and Applied Physiology

Biography    Teaching activities    Research activities    Publications   

Office: L-SP 165-41 
Richard J. Renaud Science Complex,
7141 Sherbrooke W.
Phone: (514) 848-2424 ext. 3306
Email: peter.darlington@concordia.ca
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Peter Darlington's Explore Concordia page
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 activities

Teaching statement

“My hope is to expose 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

Research activities

Current research projects

Our laboratory explores how, and why, the immune system communicates with the rest of the body. For example, we study how stress hormones and endogenous cannabinoids alter the function of T cells. Answering fundamental immunology questions will help advance knowledge related to autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Our research is multidisciplinary, with students coming from the departments of Exercise Science, Biology, Psychology, Chemistry and Biochemistry backgrounds. Key methods include isolation of human white blood cells and plasma, sterile cell culture, cellular analysis of immune function, protein analysis (ELISA), RNA analysis (qPCR, single cell drop sequencing, RNA sequencing), flow cytometry based immuno-phenotyping and cell signalling. We also employ interventions with human subjects to provoke acute sympathetic responses and measure immune biomarker responses. We have active collaborations on the topics of multiple sclerosis treatment and rehabilitation, biomarker development, immune-genomic expression, and new anti-cancer drug development.

Publications

Selected publications

      Nghibzadeh A., Mohammadi G., P.J. Darlington, Rezaei Namjoo F., Rashidlamir A. Aquatic exercise with Swedish massage increases neurotrophic factors and decreases interleukin-6 (IL-6) in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.  Journal of Biology of Exercise. 2018 In press.

StopnickiB., Q-L. Cui, M. Blain, T. E. Kennedy, J. P. Antel, L. M. Healy, P.J. Darlington. Helper CD4 T cells Expressing Granzyme B Cause Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Fragmentation in Astrocytes in an MHCII-independent manner. 2018 GLIA; in press.

P.J. Darlington, B. Stopnicki, T. Touil, J-S. Doucet, L. Fawaz, M. E. Roberts, M-N. Boivin, N. Arbour, M. S.Freedman, H.L. Atkins, A. Bar-Or. Natural Killer Cells Regulate Th17 cells After Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. Frontiers in Immunology. 07 May 2018, volume 9,article 834, p1 -14

M.Youssef, A. Ghassemi, C. C. M. Gonczi, T. Arabi Kugathasan, R. D. Kilgour, P.J. Darlington. Low Baseline Sympathetic Tone Correlates to a Greater Blood Pressure Change in the Cold Pressor Test. Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance.  89(6), June 2018.

C. C.M. Carvajal Gonczi, M. Tabatabaei Shafiei, A. East, E. Martire, M. E.I.Maurice-Ventouris, P.J. Darlington.  Reciprocal Modulation of Helper Th1 and Th17Cells by the β2-Adrenergic Receptor Agonist Drug Terbutaline. The FEBS Journal,Sept 2017, Vol 284, Issue 18, pp 3018–3028.

Levtova N.*, Healy L.M.*, Carvajal Gonczi C. M. , Stopnicki B., Blain M., Kennedy T.,Moore C.S., Antel J.,Darlington, P.J. Comparative morphology and phagocytic capacity of primary human adult microglia with time-lapse imaging. Journal of Neuroimmunology, 2017 Sep15; vol 310, 143-149. *shared first author. *shared first author.

S. L.C.Elsaser, F. Vickers, C.M. Carvajal Gonczi, P.J. Darlington. Lactate Promotes Survival Of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells due to Lowering of Apoptosis.Journal of Undergraduate Research (JUR). 2017 in press.

A.Rozenberg, A. Rezk, M-N. Boivin, P. J. Darlington, M. Nyirenda, R. Li, F.Jalili, R. Winer, E. A. Artsy, A. Uccelli, J.S. Reese, S.M. Planchon, J.A.Cohen, and A. Bar-Or Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Impact Th17 and Th1 Responses Through a Prostaglandin E2 and Myeloid-Dependent Mechanism. Stem Cells Translational Medicine Journal, July 11 2016 2015-0243

C.Podjaski, J.I. Alvarez, L. Bourbonniere, S. Larouche, S. Terouz, J. Bin, M.Lecuyer., O. Saint-Laurent, C. Larochelle, P.J. Darlington, N. Arbour, J.P.Antel, T.E. Kennedy, and A. Prat. Netrin-1 Regulates Blood-Brain Barrier Function and CNS Inflammation. Brain 2015 Jun;138 (Pt 6):1598-612.

M. Tabatabaei Shafiei, C.M. Carvajal Gonczi, M.S. Rahman, A. East, J. Francois, P.J.Darlington . Detecting Glycogen in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells with Periodic Acid Schiff Staining. Journal of Visualized Experiments JoVE, 2014Dec; 94

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