The question of synchronization of coupled oscillators is of fundamental importance for the understanding of a wide range of biological phenomena, from firefly synchronization to cardiac function and rythmogenesis in the mammalian hippocampus. Groundbreaking work by Kuramoto, Crawford, Winfree and Strogatz led to a new understanding of the dynamics of coupled oscillator networks, yet most available results are only applicable to the case of weakly coupled oscillators. In this talk I will show that the weak coupling assumption is very constraining for networks of cells coupled by inhibition, and that relaxing this assumption leads to activity patterns that are not predicted by the weak coupling theory. Finally, I will show how dimensional reduction techniques can be used in the analysis of bursting in an inhibitory network of cells with post-inhibitory rebound properties.