University of Virginia-Main Campus · PharmacologyBreathing and Epilepsy Research Lab
Mark Beenhakker · Charlottesville, Virginia
Research Focus
Dr. Mark Beenhakker's lab at the University of Virginia focuses on understanding the link between breathing and epilepsy, particularly the types of seizures that often affect children. The lab uses innovative rodent models to study how changes in breathing, like hyperventilation, can trigger seizures. By looking at how blood chemistry, particularly carbon dioxide levels, influences brain activity, they aim to uncover new ways to treat generalized epilepsy more effectively.
generalized epilepsyhyperventilationabsence seizuresblood CO2thalamus
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate how respiratory alkalosis triggers absence seizures.
AIM 02Characterize the neural circuitry involved in spontaneous and hyperventilation-triggered seizures.
AIM 03Identify pH-sensitive neurons in the thalamus that contribute to generalized spike-wave discharges.
AIM 04Explore blood CO2's role in seizure generation mechanisms.
AIM 05Develop new therapeutic strategies for treating pediatric generalized epilepsies.
Skills the Lab Values
plethysmographyelectroencephalography (EEG)whole-cell patch clampcalcium imagingoptogeneticsanimal handlingbehavioral assaysdata analysis in neuroscienceneurophysiology
Output against the department
Publications64bottom 12% of dept.405th of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations3.1kbottom 23% of dept.354th of 462
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.