Karen S. Wilcox

About

Karen Wilcox, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pharmacology & Toxicology at the College of Pharmacy, University of Utah. She also holds the Richard L. Stimson Presidential Endowed Chair. Her research focuses on understanding the basic mechanisms underlying epileptogenesis, seizure generation, and therapy-resistance to anticonvulsant drugs. To achieve these goals, her laboratory employs electrophysiological, calcium imaging, pharmacological, behavioral, genetic, immunoblot, and immunohistochemical techniques in various in vitro preparations and animal models of epilepsy. Dr. Wilcox's working hypothesis is that insight into disease-induced changes in neuronal and glial function will provide new avenues for therapeutic interventions for patients at risk of developing epilepsy or those who are refractory to current treatments. She is the Director of the Anticonvulsant Development (ADD) Program, where she evaluates proprietary investigational compounds through a contract with NINDS at the NIH to determine their antiseizure and disease-modifying potential. Her contributions to the field have been recognized through awards such as the 2023 University of Utah Distinguished Professor Award, the 2022 NINDS Landis Outstanding Mentorship Award, and the 2025 University of Utah Distinguished Researcher Award.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Psychiatry
• Internal medicine
• Pharmacology
• Neuroscience
• Political Science
• Anesthesia
• Pathology
• Psychology
• Biology

Selected publications

• Identification of clinically relevant biomarkers of epileptogenesis — a strategic roadmap

  Nature Reviews Neurology · 2021 · 103 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Development of an antiseizure drug screening platform for Dravet syndrome at the NINDS contract site for the Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program

  Epilepsia · 2021 · 46 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  OBJECTIVE: mouse. METHODS: mice had seizures. RESULTS: survive to adulthood and all have hyperthermia-induced seizures. The results suggest that hyperthermia-induced seizures in this model of DS are highly refractory to a battery of ASDs. Exceptions were clobazam, tiagabine, levetiracetam, and the combination of clobazam and valproic acid with add-on stiripentol, which elevated seizure thresholds. SIGNIFICANCE: Overall, the data demonstrate that the proposed model for DS is suitable for screenin…

  PublisherDOI

• Antiepileptogenesis and disease modification: Progress, challenges, and the path forward—Report of the Preclinical Working Group of the 2018 NINDS‐sponsored antiepileptogenesis and disease modification workshop

  Epilepsia Open · 2021 · 40 citations

  Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic brain diseases and is often associated with cognitive, behavioral, or other medical conditions. The need for therapies that would prevent, ameliorate, or cure epilepsy and the attendant comorbidities is a priority for both epilepsy research and public health. In 2018, the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS) convened a workshop titled "Accelerating the Development of Therapies for Antiepileptogenesis and Disease Modification" th…

  DOI

• Spontaneous recurrent seizures in an intra-amygdala kainate microinjection model of temporal lobe epilepsy are differentially sensitive to antiseizure drugs

  Experimental Neurology · 2021 · 34 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  The discovery and development of novel antiseizure drugs (ASDs) that are effective in controlling pharmacoresistant spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRSs) continues to represent a significant unmet clinical need. The Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program (ETSP) has undertaken efforts to address this need by adopting animal models that represent the salient features of human pharmacoresistant epilepsy and employing these models for preclinical testing of investigational ASDs. One such model that has…

  PublisherDOI

• Evaluation of subchronic administration of antiseizure drugs in spontaneously seizing rats

  Epilepsia · 2020 · 32 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  OBJECTIVE: Approximately 30% of patients with epilepsy do not experience full seizure control on their antiseizure drug (ASD) regimen. Historically, screening for novel ASDs has relied on evaluating efficacy following a single administration of a test compound in either acute electrical or chemical seizure induction. However, the use of animal models of spontaneous seizures and repeated administration of test compounds may better differentiate novel compounds. Therefore, this approach has been i…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant RC1NS069033

  NIH · $923k · 2012

• NIH Grant R01NS065434

  NIH · $887k · 2015

• NIH Grant R01NS044210

  NIH · $1.3M · 2009

Frequent coauthors

• H. Steve White

  University of Washington

  51 shared

• Cameron S. Metcalf

  University of Utah

  33 shared

• Peter J. West

  University of Utah

  23 shared

• Misty D. Smith

  University of Utah

  17 shared

• Marc A. Dichter

  17 shared

• Robert S. Fujinami

  15 shared

• John D. Rolston

  Brigham and Women's Hospital

  15 shared

• Kristina Johnson

  Harvard University

  11 shared

Labs

• Karen Wilcox LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Pharmacology & Toxicology

  University of Utah

Awards & honors

• 2025 University of Utah Distinguished Researcher Award
• 2023 University of Utah Distinguished Professor Award
• 2022 NINDS Landis Outstanding Mentorship Award

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• Dr. Peter J. Westh-94
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