Rodriguez Lab

The Rodriguez Lab is located on the eleventh floor of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Analiz Rodriguez, M.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery and Director of Neuro-Oncology at UAMS. Dr. Rodriguez’s research focuses on the development of novel diagnostics and treatment strategies for brain tumors. As a surgeon-scientist, she established a brain tumor biobank for precision medicine at UAMS. This allows her to study tumor samples directly from surgically resected specimens and identify drugs specific to a patient’s tumor. She investigates glioblastoma and metastatic brain tumors. Patients with these tumors typically have less than a year and a half to live after diagnosis.

Her laboratory uses next generation sequencing and proteomics to identify novel targets and understand tumor progression. Patient-derived organoid models are also used to validate candidate targets and understand brain tumor growth. Dr. Rodriguez is also interested in health care disparities and how to improve access to surgical interventions for brain tumor patients.