Erick Rodriguez‑Palma, Ph.D., has been selected as a recipient of the McKnight Brain Institute (MBI) Spatial Transcriptomics Pilot Award, supporting innovative neuroscience research at the University of Florida. His project focuses on understanding dorsal root ganglia changes in a murine chronic pain model using advanced spatial transcriptomics approaches.
The MBI Spatial Transcriptomics Pilot Awards support investigators in applying cutting‑edge technologies to map gene expression within intact tissue architecture. These awards are designed to generate preliminary datasets that can lead to future publications and external funding opportunities.
Rodriguez‑Palma’s project centers on dorsal root ganglia in a chronic pain model, an area highly relevant to CAPToR’s mission to advance the understanding of pain mechanisms and develop non‑addictive therapeutics. By leveraging spatial transcriptomics, the work will enable high‑resolution mapping of molecular activity within neural tissue, providing insight into how cellular organization influences pain signaling.
The 2026 pilot awards support 11 projects across multiple University of Florida colleges and departments and include in‑kind resources such as sequencing, reagents, and bioinformatics analysis. These resources will help investigators generate data for manuscripts and future grant applications.
This recognition highlights the growing integration of advanced molecular tools within pain research and underscores the strength of interdisciplinary collaboration at UF. For CAPToR, the project represents another step toward identifying novel targets and pathways that can inform the next generation of pain therapeutics.
For more information about this award and to view all other 2026 Spatial Transcriptomics Pilot Award recipients, please visit the MBI website here: https://mbi.ufl.edu/2026/03/31/mbi-spatial-transcriptomics-pilot-award-supports-11-research-projects/.