My Research:

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"FROs":

In the last chapter of my thesis, I proposed that there are scientific problems that are too big for an academic laboratory, but that can't be pursued by for-profit companies. I argued that those problems could be tackled by "Focused Research Organizations," which are essentially non-profit start-ups funded at the level of a Series A biotech company to address a specific scientific challenge. Adam Marblestone and I developed this idea further in several papers, and then Adam founded Convergent Research and brought the idea to life!

 

• Marblestone, Gamick, Kalil, Martin, Cvitkovic, and Rodriques, Nature (2022).

• Rodriques and Marblestone, Day One Project (2020).

• My Thesis

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Omics:

• "Timestamps"

  • ​Rodriques*, Chen* et al., Nature Biotechnology (2020): I invented a new method for tracking the age of RNAs produced by a cell, allowing researchers to study not just which genes are expressed in response to a specific stimulus, but also when they are expressed, and how the timing of gene expression differs between individual cells.

• "Slide-seq"

  • ​Rodriques*, Stickels* et al., Science (2019): I invented a new method for performing single-cell RNA sequencing with spatial resolution, allowing researchers to study how cell types are organized within tissue, and to understand the effect of pathologies (such as lesions or cancers) on nearby cell types. This technology is now being commercialized by Curio Bio.

• Protein Sequencing:

  • ​Rodriques et al., PLoS One, (2019): I designed a new method for directly sequencing individual proteins and peptides, which could form the basis for a next generation of proteomic technologies.​ A very closely related technology is now being developed by Quantum SI.

• "Hypr-seq":

  • ​Marshall et al., PNAS, (2020): We invented a new method for profiling the expression of targeted genes in single cells.​

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Nanofabrication:

• "Implosion Fabrication":

  • Oran*, Rodriques* et al., Science (2018): I invented a new nanofabrication method that functions by embedding materials in a hydrogel and then shrinking the gel down to the desired size, which allows for the creation of any three-dimensional metal nanostructure desired. 

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Devices:

• Neural Recording:

  • Rodriques*, Marblestone* et al. J. Biomed. Optics. (2016): ​I designed a new method for recording neural activity along the length of optical fibers, which could for mthe basis for a new generation of neural recording devices.

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Other:

• Quantum Entanglement:

  • Rodriques et al., Phys. Rev. A (2014): I invented a new technique for determining the amount of quantum entanglement in a multipartite quantum system, with applications to quantum computation.

• Negative Probability:

  • Rodriques, arXiv (2014): As an undergrad, I explored alternative, internally consistent probability theories without Bayes' Rule, in which probabilities could be negative.​

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