Francisco J. Rivera Rosario edits scientist-written essays and develops new resources for the community. He also manages the ‘This paper changed my life’ series, acquires book excerpts and writes The Transmitter Launch, a monthly newsletter for early-career researchers. Before joining The Transmitter, he spent his career in science communications and health writing, including time working as an editor for a science communications agency and freelancing for TED Conferences and Health. Prior to moving into science communication, Francisco worked in a research lab, studying the genetic basis of rare forms of autism.
Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
Associate editor, opinion and community
The Transmitter
From this contributor
David Sussillo on persistence, luck and the bonds between life and work
By
Francisco J. Rivera Rosario, David Sussillo
17 March 2026 | 7 min watch
The Transmitter ’s Rising Stars of Neuroscience 2025
By
Francisco J. Rivera Rosario, Lauren Schneider
15 November 2025 | 23 min read
The Transmitter’s New Lab Directory
By
Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
15 November 2025 | 21 min read
The buzziest neuroscience papers of 2023, 2024
By
Calli McMurray, Francisco J. Rivera Rosario
15 November 2025 | 18 min read
Education
- M.S. in biomedical sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- M.S. in molecular biotechnology, Interamerican University of Puerto Rico
- B.S. in natural sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Cayey
Explore more from The Transmitter
This paper changed my life: A technical breakthrough for memory studies
In a 2007 Science paper, Mark Mayford and his colleagues found that some neurons activated during learning are also recruited during memory retrieval. Noelia Weisstaub shares how this study and others drove an era of great progress in tool development.
This paper changed my life: A technical breakthrough for memory studies
In a 2007 Science paper, Mark Mayford and his colleagues found that some neurons activated during learning are also recruited during memory retrieval. Noelia Weisstaub shares how this study and others drove an era of great progress in tool development.
By
Noelia Weisstaub
14 August 2026 | 5 min read
Early experience reshapes zebrafish retinal cells, alters behavior
The cells undergo a classic form of plasticity previously thought to occur only in downstream visual circuits.
Early experience reshapes zebrafish retinal cells, alters behavior
The cells undergo a classic form of plasticity previously thought to occur only in downstream visual circuits.
By
Siddhant Pusdekar
13 August 2026 | 0 min watch
Loss of interneuron plasticity may be shared hallmark of neurodevelopmental conditions
Restoring an experience-dependent interneuron plasticity gene in adulthood improves memory and cuts seizures in CNTNAP2 knockout mice, a new study shows.
Loss of interneuron plasticity may be shared hallmark of neurodevelopmental conditions
Restoring an experience-dependent interneuron plasticity gene in adulthood improves memory and cuts seizures in CNTNAP2 knockout mice, a new study shows.
By
Claudia López Lloreda
12 August 2026 | 5 min read