Abel Torres-Espin is assistant professor at the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo in Canada; adjunct professor at the University of Alberta and assistant adjunct professor at the Brain and Spinal Injury Center in the Weill Institute of Neurosciences at University of California, San Francisco.

Abel Torres-Espin
Assistant adjunct professor
Brain and Spinal Injury Center (BASIC) University of California, San Francisco
From this contributor
Pooling data points to new potential treatment for spinal cord injury
By gathering raw data from multiple labs, we identified an overlooked predictor of recovery after spinal cord injury. Many more insights remain trapped in scattered data.
Explore more from The Transmitter
Emotion research has a communication conundrum
In 2025, the words we use to describe emotions matter, but their definitions are controversial. Here, I unpack the different positions in this space and the rationales behind them—and I invite 13 experts to chime in.

Emotion research has a communication conundrum
In 2025, the words we use to describe emotions matter, but their definitions are controversial. Here, I unpack the different positions in this space and the rationales behind them—and I invite 13 experts to chime in.
Autism-linked copy number variants always boost autism likelihood
By contrast, varied doses of the same genes decrease or increase the odds of five other conditions, with distinct biological consequences, two new preprints show.

Autism-linked copy number variants always boost autism likelihood
By contrast, varied doses of the same genes decrease or increase the odds of five other conditions, with distinct biological consequences, two new preprints show.
Everything everywhere all at once: Decision-making signals engage entire brain
The findings, gleaned from the most comprehensive map yet of brain activity during decision-making in mice, show that the process is even more distributed than previously thought.

Everything everywhere all at once: Decision-making signals engage entire brain
The findings, gleaned from the most comprehensive map yet of brain activity during decision-making in mice, show that the process is even more distributed than previously thought.