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Declan McCole, PhD (he/him/his)

Professor of Biomedical Sciences
University of California, Riverside

Dr. McCole obtained his Ph.D. from the Department of Pharmacology and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Ireland in 1997. He conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Diego prior to obtaining a junior faculty appointment as a Project Scientist in 2004 and as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in 2009. In 2013 he was recruited from UCSD to join the new School of Medicine (SOM) at the University of California, Riverside. In 2015 he was promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure, and in 2019 to Full Professor, at UCR.
His research focuses on regulation of intestinal epithelial barrier function in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). His lab was the first to identify that the IBD candidate gene, PTPN2, protects intestinal epithelial barrier function from the effects of inflammation. His lab also identified critical roles for PTPN2 in regulating homeostatic and pathologic interactions between intestinal epithelial cells and gut macrophages that influence gut permeability and mucosal innate immune status. In addition to researching potential therapies to enhance intestinal barrier function, his lab also investigates how PTPN2 shapes the intestinal microbiome, to modify host-bacterial interactions in the gut. He currently serves as co-Chair of the Research Grants Council of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, and is a chartered member of the NIH DHMI study section. He has received a number of awards including a “Top 50 in 50” award in recognition as one of the top 50 contributors in the past 50 years to furthering the mission of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, San Diego and Desert Area Chapter. He was also honored as a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association, and with the Horace W. Davenport Distinguished Lecture by the American Physiological Society in 2024. At UCR, he served as Chair of the SOM Faculty Executive Committee, and Vice-Chair of the Academic Senate, and directs medical school teaching of GI Physiology & Pharmacology.

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