DR. ROBERTO RODRíGUEZ MORALES
RESEARCHER
Contact Information:
Office: B-644
Lab: B-612/613
Email: roberto.rodriguez19@upr.edu
EDUCATION:
- B.Sc. Human Biology, University of Puerto Rico, Bayamón Campus
- Ph.D. Anatomy, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus
RESEARCH INTEREST:
- Our research laboratory is interested in understanding the biological factors underlying natural trait variation using the Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus. This species of fish exists as two morphotypes: ancestral, river-dwelling surface fish with eyes and complex social behaviors, and cave-adapted, blind cavefish that lost most social behaviors. We are working towards understanding the developmental mechanisms underlying non-visual sensory system compensations in blind cavefish, and how these impact complex social behaviors that can be used as proxies for studying neurological disease.