I graduated in Biological Sciences (1992) and Doctor in Sciences (2000) at the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). After that I migrated to Brazil where I obtained a post-doctoral position funded by the São Paulo Science Foundation (FAPESP) at the Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo (2000-2004). After that, I obtained my first grant as an independent early career researcher, funded by FAPESP. In 2006 I was hired as an Assistant Professor by the Department of Parasitology of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences University of São Paulo, where I was promoted to Associate Professor in 2011 and to Full Professor in 2018. From the beginning of my independent scientific career I graduated 9 masters? students, 12 PhD students and trained a dozen of post-doctoral researchers. Among other academic activities I served in several Committees, Councils and as deputy director of the Department of Parasitology of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the University of São Paulo, and as Treasurer and member of the Directory board of the Brazilian Society of Protozoology (2012 2018). Looking in perspective to my research history, I must say that I acquired some experience (and a lot of conscious about my ignorance) on some topics of metabolism and metabolites transport, bioenergetics and mitochondrial physiology in protists, as well as the development and validation of targets to design new anti-parasitic drugs. For all this, the slogan of my lab is ?Drugs (for Neglected Diseases), Metabolism & Rock´n Roll?. (Source: Lattes Curriculum)
| Articles published in Pesquisa FAPESP Magazine about the researcher: |
| An agenda for forgotten diseases |
| News published in Agência FAPESP Newsletter about the researcher |
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Many studies including several of our group have described the relevance of the amino acids in the biology trypanosomatids, focusing on the group of the so-called TriTryps (which includes Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei, and pathogenic species of the genus Leishmania). The TriTryps use amino acids for many other functions besides protein synthesis, such as cell differentiation, the …
Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease are insect vector borne diseases caused by microscopic protozoan parasites. Whilst recent progress against many NTDs has been promising, with an increasing number of cases in an ever wider geographical area, coupled with a limited number of drugs and rising antimicrobial resistance, the battle against both diseases has been described as a losing one. In th…
Mitochondria are central hubs of energy metabolism, integrating vital cellular processes through signals emanated from and to this organelle. Mitochondrial redox shuttles oxidize cytosolic NADH and transfer its reduced equivalents to mitochondria, interconnecting glucose, and lipid metabolism to oxidative phosphorylation. Although mitochondrial redox shuttles were functionally identified …
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
The absence of an efficient treatment against Chagas disease rises the need to broaden our knowledge about the biology of this parasite, with the aim of identifying new targets and compounds as a therapeutic alternative. On this regard, aminoacid metabolism is a rational study proposal owed to its fundamental importance. Aminoacids, besides being precursors of protein biosynthesis, they s…
The parasite that causes Chagas' disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, is a single-celled pathogen that affects about 7 million people worldwide. This parasite has unique characteristics related to its biology, including a single mitochondrion, which houses the structure called kinetoplast containing mitochondrial genome (kDNA). For the translation of genes encoded by kDNA to occur, the importation…
Trypanosoma cruzi is the ethiological agent of Chagas Disease and it is transmitted between mammals by triatomine insects. The fact this parasite transits amongst invertebrate and vertebrate hosts resulted in different enviromental adaptations, characterized by different nutritional conditions. For example, when glucose is limited in the vector's gut, T. cruzi can change its metabolism to…
Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) is the causative agent of Chagas Disease, also known as American Trypanosomiasis. The life cycle of pathogenic trypanosomatids is known to encompass different environments in their hosts. T. cruzi, for example, depends fundamentally on the intestinal tract of the insect vector, the bloodstream, and the cytoplasm of the mammalian host cell. In these environment…
Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiological agent for Chagas´ Disease, which is one of the main tropical illnesses in Latin America, and is also among the most neglected ones in the world. Furthermore, currently used drugs present significant toxicity and show little effectiveness in the chronic phase of the disease, when most of the cases are diagnosed. These facts illustrate the urgent need fo…
Parasites submitted to different metabolic backgrounds, such as severe metabolic stress or metabolic stress conditions in the presence of single carbon and energy sources for maintenance (PBS supplemented with glucose, proline, histidine or leucine) could have different epigenomes. These differences could affect cell cycle, differentiation or host-cell invasion among other processes. In t…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
In this proposal, we aim to improve the biological knowledge of Trypanosoma cruzi focusing on correlating the interfaces among three research areas: metabolism, epigenetics, and cell cycle. The parasites' metabolic flexibility allows them to survive in different environments, like those found in distinct hosts. The parasites can reprogram cellular functions, including metabolism, retainin…
Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma brucei are the etiological agents of Chagas' disease and sleep sickness, respectively. Both are able to catabolize amino acids, which are involved in important metabolic processes. During the life cycle, the parasites adapt their metabolism to the availability of substrates in the different environments they go through along their life cycles. It was alre…
Both, information obtained by our lab on the role P5CDH in Trypanosoma cruzi metabolism and biology, and available information in the literature support the role of this enzyme in several physiological processes in the African trypanosome (T. brucei) and its intermediate host Glossina morsitans (tsetse fly). This proposal intends to assess the phenotype of conditioned mutant null cells fo…
| 1 / 1 | Ongoing research grants |
| 27 / 21 | Completed research grants |
| 3 / 3 | Ongoing scholarships in Brazil |
| 29 / 20 | Completed scholarships in Brazil |
| 3 / 3 | Completed scholarships abroad |
| 63 / 48 | All research grants and scholarships |
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CV Lattes
ORCID