For more than 20 years, Moira C. Dowling has been a valued professional fixture at the University of Michigan. Drawing on her innate interest in biology, she has excelled since 2021 as the manager of Neurology Clinical Trial Organization (NeCTO) at the University of Michigan Medical School. She takes immense pride in the key positions and programs she has filled, created, and joined throughout her career, as her work has been critical to advancing clinical research at the famed institution.
Ms. Dowling’s work with NeCTO has reignited her love for clinical research, and she takes particular joy in building a team of qualified professionals, especially after the industry-wide effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. She began her career at the University of Michigan in the Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she was the lead on solid tumor clinical trials from 2004 to 2006. For the next five years, she was the manager of operational support at the university, after which she became the associate managing director of epic clinical research interfaces from 2011 to 2013. Further, Ms. Dowling established the Honest Broker Office at the university to ensure compliant secondary sharing of patient data and played a key role in creating the Michigan Institute for Data Science. Additionally, between 2019 and 2022, she was the manager of the Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center.
To prepare for her career in clinical research, Ms. Dowling graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a Bachelor of Arts in biological sciences in 1983. After working in the pharmaceutical industry, she realized she needed biostatics credentials to enhance her skillset for clinical research and clinical trial work. To this end, she continued her education at the University of California, Los Angeles, and graduated in 1992 with a Master of Public Health in biostatics. Ms. Dowling attributes her success to her high-achieving family, particularly crediting her parents for instilling the values of hard work and education. Notably, two of Ms. Dowling’s sisters hold doctorates, and her brother has a master’s degree.
Looking to the future, Ms. Dowling hopes to leverage her skills as a consultant, as she is very people-oriented and loves to work. To stay up to date with and contribute to developments in her field, she maintains affiliations with the American Statistical Association, the American School Association, the Project Management Institute, and Women in Data Science.