Paul Buckmaster, DVM, PhD

Administrative Appointments

• Comparative Medicine Review Committee (RIRG-C) Study Section, NCRR, NIH (2008 - present)
• Research Council of the Professional Advisory Board, Epilepsy Foundation (2003 - present)
• Clinical Neuroplasticity and Neurotransmitter Study Section, NIH Center for Scientific Review (2004 - 2008)

Honors and Awards

• Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences, Burroughs Wellcome Fund (1996-2000)

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Laura Bronsart, Izumi Toyoda, Ashley Zehnder, Wei Zhang

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Comparative Medicine
• Neurology and Neurol Sciences
• Neurosciences

Research Interests

Temporal lobe epilepsy is common, frequently refractory to treatment, and devastating to those affected. Our long-term goal is to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of this disease so that rational and effective therapies can be developed. We use electrophysiological, molecular, and anatomical techniques to evaluate neuronal circuitry in normal and in epileptic brains.

Publications

• Dysfunction of the dentate basket cell circuit in a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Zhang W, Buckmaster PS. J Neurosci. 2009; 29 (24): 7846-56
• Inhibition of the mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway suppresses dentate granule cell axon sprouting in a rodent model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Buckmaster PS, Ingram EA, Wen X. J Neurosci. 2009; 29 (25): 8259-69
• Synaptic input to dentate granule cell basal dendrites in a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Thind KK, Ribak CE, Buckmaster PS. J Comp Neurol. 2008; 509 (2): 190-202
• Changes in granule cell firing rates precede locally recorded spontaneous seizures by minutes in an animal model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Bower MR, Buckmaster PS. J Neurophysiol. 2008; 99 (5): 2431-42
• Recurrent circuits in layer II of medial entorhinal cortex in a model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Kumar SS, Jin X, Buckmaster PS, Huguenard JR. J Neurosci. 2007; 27 (6): 1239-46