Dr Raquel Rodriguez

It is with sadness to inform INRC members of the passing of Dr. Raquel Rodriguez on April 4th due to pneumonia as a result of the coronavirus COVID-19.   Raquel was a strong supporter of INRC and sent many of her students to present their work on the opioid system in the Zebrafish, an area of opioid biology that Raquel’s laboratory pioneered.  Raquel had a strong spirit and a love for science that she brought to the lINRC meetings  In the words of her mentee, Dr. Fatima Macho Sanchez-Simon:

Prof. Rodriguez taught Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Salamanca. She also was a founder member of the Institute of Neuroscience of Castilla y León (INCYL), which she directed at the end of her professional career.

She was a strong and passionate woman who truly loved Science in general and opioid research in particular, ever since she started her research career with Prof. John Hughes studying the enkephalins. She was a constant worker, who not only survived, but reached great accomplishments in a world lead by men, especially at the time when she began her career in the late 70s. She was an enthusiastic researcher, always fighting against the odds to do, as she often pointed out, “First class research with forth class materials”. Her strong spirit conveyed that all could be possible if you really wanted it to happen.

She was also a magnificent teacher, which has been constantly pointed out by all her students throughout the years. She really believed, and acted on it, that the young minds are the future, and therefore, they need to be both helped and encouraged to develop all their potential to make a better tomorrow. In this sense, she was a mentor more than just a teacher, and she guided us with mother-like love and tenderness, without forgetting that special touch of sweet anger when we wouldn’t take things as seriously as she wanted. 

How hard is to say good bye to Raquel so soon, but I can’t help feeling privileged to have worked with such an amazing woman, knowing that her advice, her guidance, and all her care, will always be with us, her laboratory children.

Raquel will be remembered as a creative, strong and enthusiastic scientist and mentor with a warm and accepting personality.