Nancy Padilla-Coreano

Nancy Padilla-Coreano, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and Assistant Professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Her research explores how the brain enables humans and animals to navigate complex social dynamics and how this ability is disrupted in disease states. Dr. Padilla-Coreano uses behavioral assays, multi-site electrophysiology, and machine learning analyses to identify the neural circuit dynamics behind social competency in mouse models.

Dr. Padilla-Coreano was born and raised in Puerto Rico and attended the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras as an undergraduate. She received her Ph.D. in neurobiology and behavior at Columbia University, where she worked with Dr. Josh Gordon, and later trained as a postdoctoral research fellow at MIT and the Salk Institute with Dr. Kay Tye. She has received funding through the NIH BRAIN Initiative Pathway to Independence (K99/R00) Award, the Brain Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Award, the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative Pilot Award, and the L’Oreal Women in Science Fellowship. Dr. Padilla-Coreano’s accomplishments have been recognized through the inaugural Henry Grass Rising Stars in Neuroscience award and by the National Academy of Sciences as a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow.

Throughout her career, Dr. Padilla-Coreano has been committed to amplifying the voices of young scientists whose backgrounds have been historically underrepresented in research. Dr. Padilla-Coreano contributes to improving STEM culture individually as a mentor and through public advocacy. She is a cofounder of Stories of Women in Neuroscience, which produces interviews and profiles of women in neuroscience research in English and Spanish.