Headshot of Nancy Padilla-Coreano.

Nancy Padilla-Coreano

Assistant professor of neuroscience
University of Florida in Gainesville

Nancy Padilla-Coreano is assistant professor of neuroscience 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. Padilla-Coreano uses behavioral assays, multisite electrophysiology and artificial intelligence to identify the neural dynamics behind social competency in mouse models.

Her lab has received funding from the National Institutes of Health’s BRAIN Initiative, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Young Investigator Award and the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative. Most recently, she was selected as a McKnight neuroscience fellow and a Klingenstein-Simons fellow. Padilla-Coreano started her laboratory at the University of Florida in January 2022. For information more about her, please visit https://www.padillacoreanolab.com/.

Explore more from The Transmitter

Illustration of worm on top of a purple rock with neurons in the background.

The three-banded panther worm is rewriting the story of brain evolution

The animal has a brain structure all its own, according to a 2026 preprint. The finding hints that brains could have evolved centralization before regionalization.

By Sarah DeWeerdt
4 November 2026 | 7 min read

Does cognition happen in brain areas or between them?

Michael Cole explains how "brain flows" are the fundamental units of brain function and cognition.

By Paul Middlebrooks
4 November 2026 | 1 min read
Brain Flows book cover

‘Brain Flows: How Network Dynamics Compose the Human Mind,’ an excerpt

In his new book, published today, Michael W. Cole examines how the movement of neuronal activity between neuronal populations shapes free will, intelligence and creativity. In this excerpt from Chapter 1, Cole explores why activity flows could unify efforts to map brain functions and connectivity.

By Michael W. Cole
3 November 2026 | 9 min read