Paul Frankland

Paul Frankland is a Senior Scientist in the Neurosciences & Mental Health Program at SickKids Research Institute. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neurobiology, and is appointed as a Full Professor in the Department of Psychology, Department of Physiology, and Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a member of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) in the program for Child and Brain Development. 

Research

Dr. Frankland’s research program combines behavior, imaging and molecular approaches to understand the neurobiological basis of memory. His team’s empirical and theoretical papers have advanced our understanding of systems consolidation, hippocampal neurogenesis and memory function, engrams, hippocampal memory development and developmental disorders.

To help accomplish the goal of understanding how the brain uses information, they combine a variety of tools, including optogenetics, chemogenetics and detailed behavioral analysis.

Education and experience

• 1998–2003: Postdoctoral fellow, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
• 1996–1998: Postdoctoral fellow, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, NY, USA
• 1996: PhD, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 1989: BA University of Sheffield, Toronto, ON, Canada

Achievements

• 2022: Romach-Sellers Prize in Early Brain Development 
• 2022: Fellow, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
• 2018: Fellow, Royal Society of Canada (Life Sciences division) 

1. Ko, S.Y., Rong, Y., Ramsaran, A.I., Chen, X., Rashid, A.J., Mocle, A., Dhaliwal, J., Awasthi, A., Guskjolen, A., Josselyn, S.A. and Frankland, P.W. (2025). Systems consolidation involves reorganization of hippocampal engram circuits. Nature, 643, 735-743.
2. Ramsaran, A.I., Wang, Y., Golbabaei, A., Aleshin, S., de Snoo, M.L., Yeung, B.A., Rashid, A.J., Awasthi, A., Lau, J., Tran, L.M., Ko, S., Abegg, A., Duan, L.C., McKenzie, C., Gallucci, J., Ahmed, M., Kaushik, R., Dityatev, A., Josselyn, S.A. and Frankland, P.W. (2023). A shift in the mechanisms controlling hippocampal engram formation during brain maturation. Science, 380, 543-551
3. Steadman, P.E., Xia, F., Ahmed, M., Steenland, H.W., Mocle, A.J., Penning, A.R.A., Geraghty, A.C., Monje, M., Josselyn, S.A. and Frankland, P.W. (2020).  Disruption of oligodendrogenesis impairs memory consolidation in adult mice. Neuron, 105, 150-164.
4. Vetere, G., Tran, L.M., Moberg, S., Steadman, P.E., Restivo, L., Morrison, F.G., Ressler, K.J., Josselyn, S.A. and Frankland, P.W. (2019). Memory formation in the absence of experience. Nature Neuroscience, 22, 933-940.
5. Akers, K.G.*, Martinez-Canabal, A.*, Restivo, L.*, Yiu, A.P., de Cristofaro, A., Hsiang, H-L., Wheeler, A.L., Guskjolen, A., Niibori, Y., Shoji, H., Ohira, K., Richards, B.A., Miyakawa, T., Josselyn, S.A. and Frankland, P.W. (2014). Hippocampal neurogenesis regulates forgetting during adulthood and infancy. Science, 344, 598-602.

View a full list of Paul Frankland's publications