Off to Oxford
Matthew Downer of St. John’s announced as Newfoundland and Labrador’s next Rhodes Scholar
Matthew Downer of St. John’s has been nominated 2018 Rhodes Scholar Elect from Newfoundland and Labrador.
The scholarship provides the opportunity to study at the University of Oxford in the U.K., one of the top universities in the world.
Downer completed an undergraduate degree in psychology, specializing in neuroscience, at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) and is currently completing medical school at MUN., according to a news release from Rhodes Trust, Newfoundland and Labrador.
At Oxford, he plans to complete a master’s of science degree in evidence-based health care, followed by a master’s of science in epidemiology. Downer plans to be a translational clinician-scientist in the field of rehabilitation medicine.
According to the release, Downer has won numerous awards, including MUN’S Award for Outstanding Selfdirected Learning, the Captain Robert A. Bartlett Convocation Award for Science, and the Lou Visentin Award, for being on the faculty of science dean’s list for four consecutive years.
He has published five peerreviewed papers in clinical rehabilitation, been a clinical research intern at the American University human neuropsychology laboratory in Washington, D.C., and has been a clinical research assistant at MUN’S recovery and performance laboratory. Among his research awards are the Fulbright Canada Killam Fellow for MUN and the best research presentation award from the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.
He has also undertaken work in the area of opioid addiction and serves on the Canadian Federation of Medical Students National Opioid Task Force. He is also project lead and founder of the MUN Opioids Awareness and Support Team.
Downer has been a coach for the provincial Special Olympics floor hockey and golf team since 2013 and coach of the Easter Seals’ Newfoundland and Labrador wheelchair basketball team since 2014.
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford and is widely considered the world’s most prestigious scholarship. Scholarship founder Cecil Rhodes stated that a scholar must exhibit proven intellectual and academic attainment of a high standard, integrity of character, sympathy for and protection of the weak, the ability to lead, and the energy to use his or her talent to the full.