John W. Downs, MD, MPH

John W. Downs, MD, MPH, recently joined VCU Health as an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He currently serves as associate director of the Virginia Poison Center (VPC), and will become director of VPC later this year.  

Prior to his recent arrival at VCU Health, Dr. Downs was a U.S. Army officer for 24 years. Most recently, he was an associate professor and the associate program director for the occupational and environmental medicine residency at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), and an attending physician at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC).

Dr. Downs completed residency training in internal medicine at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, followed later by residency training in occupational and environmental medicine at the National Capital Consortium (NCC)-WRNMMC. Dr. Downs also completed a fellowship training in medical toxicology at VCU Health.

Dr. Downs is board-certified as a physician in internal medicine, occupational and environmental medicine, and medical toxicology. He also holds allied health certifications as a certified public health professional (CPH), and Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT). 

Dr. Downs has authored or co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, and has lectured extensively at regional and national conferences on topics related to occupational and environmental toxicology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.