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Kotloski Lab

Kotloski Lab

Robert Kotloski, M.D., Ph.D.
Robert Kotloski, M.D., Ph.D.

The focus of my laboratory is epilepsy and post-traumatic epilepsy.  Epilepsy is a prevalent and frequently debilitating neurologic condition characterized by a brain predisposed to generate seizures.  Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can have a plethora of sequelae, including post-traumatic epilepsy.  A period of time, up to years, often exists between the injury and appearance of seizures, which appears extremely attractive for intervention.  However, our understanding of the processes occurring during this time, by which the brain becomes epileptic (i.e. epileptogenesis), is limited, and our ability to diagnose and treat is nonexistent.

Utilizing rodent models of epilepsy and TBI, the lab studies the development of epilepsy following brain injury (post-traumatic epileptogenesis), with a goal of improving our abilities to diagnose and treat.  In addition to standard rodent strains, the lab uses two unique strains of rat developed at the University of Wisconsin by Dr. Tom Sutula which have either susceptibility or resistance to the development of epilepsy. The lab studies electrophysiologic changes, including wide-band and single unit activity, from the time of injury through several months afterwards, during which epilepsy develops in a subset of animals.  Changes in gene and protein expression are studied through this time period as well, in an effort to identify molecular and cellular changes underlying the changes in electrophysiologic activity and development of epilepsy.  Behavioral testing is performed to assess co-morbid changes in behavior and learning.  Recent work in the lab has identified changes in electrophysiologic activity and patterns of protein expression acutely following TBI which are associated with risk of later development of post-traumatic epilepsy.  We are also studying the impact of conditions at the time of injury which may impact outcome after TBI.

Genetic Background Influences Acute Response to TBI in Kindling-Susceptible, Kindling-Resistant, and Outbred Rats
Kotloski RJ, Rutecki PA, Sutula TP.
Front Neurol. 2020 Jan 10;10:1286. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2019.01286. eCollection 2019.
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American Epilepsy Society (AES): Written Comments to Norman E. "Ned" Sharpless, MD, Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): on Docket ID# FDA-2019-N-1482, Scientific Data and Information about Products Containing Cannabis or Cannabis-Derived Compounds; Public Hearing; Request for Comments: Submitted on: July 16, 2019
Welty TE, Chapman KE, Faught RE Jr, Kotloski RJ.
Epilepsy Curr. 2019 Nov-Dec;19(6):361-368. doi: 10.1177/1535759719878716. Epub 2019 Oct 22.
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Epilepsy and aging
Kotloski RJ, Dowding J, Hermann BP, Sutula TP.
Handb Clin Neurol. 2019;167:455-475. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-804766-8.00025-X.
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Magnetoencephalography: Clinical and Research Practices
Stapleton-Kotloski JR, Kotloski RJ, Popli G, Godwin DW.
Brain Sci. 2018 Aug 17;8(8):157. doi: 10.3390/brainsci8080157.
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Changes in nonhuman primate brain function following chronic alcohol consumption in previously naïve animals
Rowland JA, Stapleton-Kotloski JR, Alberto GE, Davenport AT, Kotloski RJ, Friedman DP, Godwin DW, Daunais JB.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2017 Aug 1;177:244-248. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.03.036. Epub 2017 May 30.
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Contrasting Effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury on the Whole-Brain Resting-State Network: A Magnetoencephalography Study
Rowland JA, Stapleton-Kotloski JR, Alberto GE, Rawley JA, Kotloski RJ, Taber KH, Godwin DW.
Brain Connect. 2017 Feb;7(1):45-57. doi: 10.1089/brain.2015.0406. Epub 2017 Jan 24.
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Environmental enrichment: evidence for an unexpected therapeutic influence
Kotloski RJ, Sutula TP.
Exp Neurol. 2015 Feb;264:121-6. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2014.11.012. Epub 2014 Dec 4.
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Localization of interictal epileptiform activity using magnetoencephalography with synthetic aperture magnetometry in patients with a vagus nerve stimulator
Stapleton-Kotloski JR, Kotloski RJ, Boggs JA, Popli G, O'Donovan CA, Couture DE, Cornell C, Godwin DW.
Front Neurol. 2014 Nov 27;5:244. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2014.00244. eCollection 2014.
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Antiseizure effects of TrkB kinase inhibition
Liu G, Kotloski RJ, McNamara JO.
Epilepsia. 2014 Aug;55(8):1264-73. doi: 10.1111/epi.12671. Epub 2014 Jun 5.
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Reduction of TrkB expression de novo in the adult mouse impairs epileptogenesis in the kindling model
Kotloski R, McNamara JO.
Hippocampus. 2010 Jun;20(6):713-23. doi: 10.1002/hipo.20673.
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No Grant Information Found

Lab Staff

Susan Osting

Position title: Researcher

Yuzhen Pan

Position title: Associate Scientist

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