As a research scientist at the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) I strive to apply the sensitivity of AMS for quantitation to address problems that cannot be answered by other means. In AMS we count individual rare long-lived radioactive atoms in submilligram-sized samples with a mass spectrometer and routinely achieve subattomole sensitivity. Throughout my career I’ve used radioisotopes to study chemical processes ranging from medical isotope production, Hanford tank waste stabilization, combustion system products, pilot chemical plant scale-up, pesticide and nutrient metabolism in humans, cell turnover and repair, and forensics.

Research Interests

Use of radioisotope tracers in biological, chemical and combustion applications.

Forensic applications of the radiocarbon bomb pulse and other radioisotopes.

Macro-molecular and cell turnover and repair in humans.

Pharmacokinetics and ADME of xenobiotic compounds at physiological and environmental exposures.

Radiation dosimetry in biological and chemical systems.

Postdoctoral Appointment, Center for AMS, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Livermore, California

Postdoctoral Appointment, Entomology, University of California, Davis, California

Postdoctoral Appointment, Chemical Technology Division, Argonne National Lab, Argonne, Illinois

Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois

M.S. Physics, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

B.A. Physics and Mathematics, Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin

Selected publications

A.M. Encerrado-Manriquez, J.D. Fine, E. Litsey, D. Baliu-Rodriguez, S.P. Leonard, B.A. Buchholz, S.C.T. Nicklisch. Queen Bees Offload Pesticide Burden to Eggs When Social Buffering is Overwhelmed. Current Biology (2026) in press. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.022

D.J. You M.A. Malfatti, E. Ubick, S.A. McCloy, S.E. Gosting, L.P. Nguyen, S. Hok, H.A. Enright, B.A. Buchholz. Bio-distribution and Deposition of Wildfire Smoke Chemicals into Olfactory Bulb and Brain of Rats After Intranasal Instillation. Environmental Research 306 (2026) 125081. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2026.125081

M.C. Domanico, S.A. Carratt, N. Collette, E.A. Ubick, P.C. Edwards, W. Yang, B.A. Buchholz, X. Ding, L.S. Van Winkle. Naphthalene-DNA Adduct Formation in a Lung Airway Explant Model: The Role of Bioactivation and Naphthalene Metabolites. Chem Res Toxicol. 39 (2026) 339-346. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.5c00428.

N. Lam, J.C. Angel, B.A. Buchholz, Y.S. Lee, S.P. Weisberg, B.H. Brown, J. Davis-Porada, D.P. Caron, I.J. Jensen, P.A. Szabo, B.B. Ural, S.B. Wells, M. Kubota, R. Matsumoto, M. Brusko, T.M. Brusko, C. Lu, A.J. Yates, D.L. Farber. Asynchronous aging and turnover of human circulating and tissue-resident memory T cells across sites. Immunity 58 (2025) 2271-2288.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2025.07.001

K.A.M. Hackenberg, H. Rajabzadeh-Oghaz, R. Dreier, B.A. Buchholz, A. Navid, D.M. Rocke, A. Abdulazim, D. Hanggi, A. Siddiqui, R.L. Macdonald, H. Meng, N. Etminan. Collagen Turnover in Relation to Risk Factors and Hemodynamics in Human Intracranial Aneurysms. Stroke 51 (2020) 1624-1628. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.029335

H.A. Enright, M.J.S. Falso, M.A. Malfatti, V. Lao, E.A. Kuhn, N. Hum, Y. Shi, A.P. Sales, K.W. Haack, K.S. Kulp, B.A. Buchholz, G.G. Loots, G. Bench, K.W. Turteltaub. Maternal exposure to an environmentally relevant dose of triclocarban results in perinatal exposure and potential alterations in offspring development in the mouse model. PLoS ONE 12 (2017) e0181996. https:// doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181996

M. Mortimer, E.J. Petersen, B.A. Buchholz, E. Orias, P.A. Holden. Bioaccumulation of Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes in Tetrahymena thermophila by Direct Feeding or Trophic Transfer. Environ. Sci. Technol. 50 (2016) 8876-8885. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b01916

I. Maze, W. Wenderski, K. Noh, R. C. Bagot, N. Tzavaras, I. Purushothaman, S. J. Elsässer, Y. Guo, C. Ionete, Y. L. Hurd, C. A. Tamminga, T. Halene, L. Farrelly, A. A. Soshnev, D. Wen, S. Rafii, M. R. Birtwistle, S. Akbarian, B. A. Buchholz, R. D. Blitzer, E. J. Nestler, Z. Yuan, B. A. Garcia,  L. Shen, H. Molina, C. D. Allis. Critical role of histone turnover in neuronal transcription and plasticity. Neuron 87 (2015) 77-94.

C. Zhao, S.H. Hwang, B.A.Buchholz, T.S.Carpenter, F. Lightstone, J. Yang, B.D. Hammock, J.E. Casida. GABA_A receptor target of tetramethylenedisulfotetramine. PNAS 111 (2014) 8607-8612.

K. Alkass, H. Saitoh, B.A. Buchholz, S. Bernard, G. Holmlund, D.R. Senn, K.L. Spalding, H. Druid. Analysis of radiocarbon, stable isotopes and DNA in teeth to facilitate identification of unknown decedents. PLoS ONE 8 (2013) e69597. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069597

K.L. Spalding, O. Bergmann, K. Alkass, S. Bernard, M. Salehpour, H. Huttner, E. Boström, I. Westerlund, B.A. Buchholz, G. Possnert, D. Mash, H. Druid, J. Frisén. Dynamics of hippocampal neurogenesis in adult humans. Cell 153 (2013) 1219-1227.

B.J. Mailloux, E. Trembath-Reichert, J. Cheung, M. Watson, M. Stute, G.A. Freyer, A.S. Ferguson, K. M. Ahmed, M.J. Alam, B.A. Buchholz, J. Thomas, A.C. Layton, Y. Zheng, B.C. Bostick, A. van Geen. Advection of surface-derived organic carbon fuels microbial reduction in Bangladesh groundwater. PNAS 110 (2013) 5331-5335. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1213141110

P. Arner, S. Bernard, M. Salehpour, G. Possnert, J. Liebl, P. Steier, B.A. Buchholz, M. Eriksson, E. Arner, H. Hauner, T. Skurk, M. Rydén, K.N. Frayn, K.L. Spalding. Dynamics of human adipose lipid turnover in health and metabolic disease. Nature 478 (2011) 110-113. DOI: 10.1038/nature10426

S. Perl, J.A. Kushner, B.A. Buchholz, A.K. Meeker, G.M. Stein, M. Hsieh, M. Kirby, S. Pechhold, E.H. Liu, D.M. Harlan, J.F. Tisdale. Significant Human b-Cell Turnover Is Limited to the First Three Decades of Life as Determined by in vivo Thymidine Analog Incorporation and Radiocarbon Dating. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 95 (2010) E234-E239, doi:10.1210/jc.2010-0932.

O. Bergmann, R.D. Bhardwaj, S. Bernard, S. Zdunek, F. Barnabé-Heider, S. Walsh, J. Zupicich, K. Alkass, B.A. Buchholz, H. Druid, S. Jovinge and J. Frisén. Evidence for cardiomyocyte renewal in humans. Science 324 (2009) 98-102.

K.L. Spalding, E. Arner, P.O. Westermark, S. Bernard, B.A. Buchholz, O.I. Bergman, L. Blomqvist, J. Hoffstedt, E. Näslund, T. Britton, H. Concha, M. Hassan, M. Rydén, J. Frisén, P. Arner. Dynamics of Fat Cell Turnover in Humans. Nature 453 (2008) 783-787.

G. A. Ban-Weiss, J. Y. Chen, B. A. Buchholz and R.W. Dibble. A numerical investigation into the anomalous slight NO_x increase when burning biodiesel; A new (old) theory. Fuel Processing Technology 88 (2007) 659-667.

C. Carkeet, S.R. Dueker, J. Lango, B.A. Buchholz, J.W. Miller, R. Green, B.D. Hammock, J.R. Roth, P.J. Anderson. Human vitamin B12 absorption measurement by accelerator mass spectrometry using specifically labeled 14C-cobalamin. PNAS 103 (2006) 5694-5699.

Kirsty L. Spalding, Bruce A. Buchholz, Henrik Druid, Lars-Eric Bergman and Jonas Frisén. Forensic Medicine: Age Written in Teeth by Nuclear Bomb Tests. Nature 437 (2005) 333-334.

K.L. Spalding, R.D. Bhardwaj, B. A. Buchholz, H. Druid, J. Frisén.  Retrospective Birth Dating of Cells. Cell 122 (2005) 133-143.

J.H. Mack, D.L. Flowers, B.A. Buchholz, and R.W. Dibble. Investigation of HCCI Combustion of Diethyl Ether and Ethanol Mixtures Using Carbon 14 Tracing and Numerical Simulations. Proceeding of the Combustion Institute 30 (2005) 2693-2700.

B. A. Buchholz, E. Fultz, K. W. Haack, J. S. Vogel, S. D. Gilman, S. Gee, B. D. Hammock, X. Hui, R. C. Wester, and H. I. Maibach.  HPLC-AMS Measurement of Atrazine Metabolites in Human Urine after Dermal Exposure, Anal. Chem. 71 (1999) 3519-3525.

 Complete publication list available at https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9531-551X

https://cams.llnl.gov/

https://bioams.llnl.gov/