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Principal Investigators

Katlin B. Massirer, PhD
General Coordinator
Katlin´s investigates RNA regulation including chemical inhibitors for splicing kinases, RNA binding proteins related to stress granule formation, microRNAs and the development of computational tools. Pharmacist, PhD and post-doc in Genetics and Bioinformatics from UCSD, USA, researcher at CBMEG/UNICAMP.
Rafael Couñago, PhD
Principal Investigator
Together with academic and industry partners, Rafael's research group at CQMED develops chemical tools to facilitate the discovery of new therapeutic targets for human diseases. Rafael obtained a MSc in Genetics (UFRJ) and a PhD in Biochemistry and Cell Biology (Rice University, USA), and is currently an Associate Professor at the Structural Genomics Consortium site at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.
Mário H Bengtson, PhD
Principal Investigator
Mários’s is dedicated to understand the translational regulation of gene expression through quality control of protein synthesis and physiological regulation of gene expression. PhD in Biochemistry from USP, (2002), postdoc in Genomics Institute of Novartis Foundation (2006) and Scripps Research Institute (2012).
Fabio Papes, PhD
Principal Investigator
Fabio is interested in understanding how neural systems work at the cellular and molecular levels. He is Ph.D. in Genetics and  Molecular Biology and was a research fellow at Harvard University and Scripps Research. Since 2008 he is professor at the Department of Genetics from the Institute of Biology, University of Campinas.
Bruno Amaral, PhD
Visiting Scholar
Bruno has experience in affinity-based screening assays for ligand prospecting and liquid chromatography. He obtained his MSc in Chemistry from UNESP (2015) and PhD in Science (Chemistry) from UFSCar (2019).
CQMED - Paulo Arruda
Paulo Arruda, PhD
Scientific Board Member
Paulo Arruda is full Professor of the Department of Genetics at the Institute of Biology, University of Campinas. His research interests are directed towards understanding the regulation of gene expression and its impact on amino acid metabolism and stress response.

Research Team

Helon Cordeiro, PhD.
Research Scientist
Currently, Helon’s research is focused on investigation of the molecular function of the PATL2 protein. Helon is a biochemical (UFSJ), MSc in Functional and Molecular Biology (UNICAMP) and PhD in Molecular and Morphofunctional Biology (UNICAMP/ERASMUS MEDICAL CENTER-NETHERLANDS). He has experience on cell culture, organoids, cell signaling, and microRNAs.
Daiane Silva, PhD.
Research Scientist
Daiane’s research is currently focused on discovering therapeutic targets for treatment of malaria disease under Structure guided Drug Discovery Coalition (SDDC). Daiane is a biologist (UFRPE), MSc in biology applied to health (UFPE) and PhD in Toxinology (Instituto Butantan/University of Queensland). She has experince on proteins purification and biochemical characterization by Mass Spectrometry; Mass Spectrometry Imaging and multiomics analysis.
Bruno Lima, PhD.
Research Scientist
Bruno completed his master's and PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from UNICAMP. His studies also include IFG and UFSCar, where he graduated in Physiotherapy. He has solid experience in animal handling, cell culture, especially with human stem cells, and techniques such as immuno-histochemistry and qRT-PCR.
Guilherme Barbosa, PhD
Research Scientist
Guilherme wants to better understand the fundamental principles of paracrine signaling in animals. His skills range from molecular biology and cell culture to quantitative biology based on image analysis. He is a PhD in Cellular Biology (UNICAMP) and has recently completed a postdoc in Cell Signaling and Developmental Biology (UCSF/USA).
Rafael Borges, PhD
Research Scientist
Rafael develops structural methods with bioinformatics, such as crystallography, mass spectrometry, phylogenetic analysis, and machine learning, to characterize proteins purified from natural sources, especially snake venom. He holds a bachelor's degree in biomedical sciences and a joint-PhD in Biology (Genetics) at the UNESP (Botucatu-Brazil) and Biotechnology at the University of Barcelona (Spain).
André Santiago, PhD
Research Scientist
André is studying the structural biology of CAMKK group of kinases to develop chemical probe. He obtained his MSc from UESC (Brazil) in 2010, and his PhD from UNICAMP (2015). Currently, he is coordinating the large-scale protein production in heterologous system using E. Coli at CQMED.
Lucas de Souza, PhD
Research Scientist
Lucas's research is biochemical and structural characterization of understudied human methyltransferases aiming to reveal their biological function. He obtained MSc in Science and Technology/Chemistry from UFABC (2013) and PhD in Biosystems from UFABC (2017).
Micael R. Cunha, PhD
Research Scientist
Micael has experience in medicinal chemistry. His work comprises the design and optimization of small molecules and chemical probes for different targets. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of São Paulo, in collaboration with the Universität Bern (2019).
Priscila Zonzini, PhD
Research Scientist
Priscila is interested in studying protein kinases to identify and validate therapeutic targets for neglected tropical diseases. She obtained her MSc (2012) and PhD (2016) in Genetics and Molecular Biology from UNICAMP and worked in collaboration with Hospital Ramón y Cajal in Madrid, Spain (2014).
Fulvia Di Pillo, PhD
Innovation Scientist
Fulvia is a postdoc with molecular and cellular biology background. She is interested in understanding neuronal diseases. Her research area includes studies on RNA regulation by kinases. She obtained her MSc in Virology from UNESP and got her PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetics from UNICAMP (2019).
Ítalo Esposti, MSc
PhD. Student
Ítalo activities include solution preparation and transfections, maintenance of eukaryotic cell culture, high-throughput cloning, large-scale protein expression and purification, target engagement assays and immunocytochemistry to analyze the effects of inhibitors. He is graduated in Biological Sciences from UENF, Brazil and MSc. in Structural and Cell Biology from UFV, Brazil.
Israel Vasconcelos
PHD. Student
Israel has a Bachelor's Degree in Biomedicine and MSc. in Biochemistry from USP. He started as a technician at CQMED in February 2021 and currently is a PhD student involved on research about co-translational quality control of proteins.
Gabriel Vieira Valderrama
PHD. Student
Gabriel started as a technician in CQMED in June 2017. He got his bachelor degree in Pharmacy from the UNIP, Brazil. His activities include experiments in qPCR and PCR, cell culture maintenance, cell culture room organization, preparation of solutions and more.
Renan Vinicius de Araujo
PHD. STUDENT
Renan is searching for novel chemical probes for kinases employing fragment screening. He obtained his BSc. degree from University of São Paulo (2020) with internships at University of Groningen (2016) and University of Copenhagen (2019). He is also interested in science communication, having published the book "Super-heróis da ciência" (2021).
Gabriele Celis Silva
Masters Student
Gabriele is currently working with RNA-binding proteins involved in Leukemia cell lines resistance to chemotherapy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences (UNIRP) and has previous experience with animal models of ASD and temporal lobe epilepsy.
Bruna Trajano, MSc
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Bruna has a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry (UFSC, 2018) and a Master’s Degree in Organic Chemistry (Unicamp, 2023), , having experience with organic synthesis and bioinformatics. At CQMED, she works on technical and administrative activities related to lab maintenance.

Administrative Team

Nathalia Zocal, MSc
Project Manager
Nathalia works on project management of public and private sources and financial implementation. She obtained her degree in Biotechnology from UNISO, Brazil (2011), MSc. in Medical Sciences from UNICAMP (2014), and MBA in Project Management from FGV (2022).
Paula Malloy, MSc
Project Manager
Paula works on strategic innovation management and project management at CQMED. She obtained her degree in Biology, from PUC-MG (2005), MSc in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from UNIFESP (2009), and MBA in Project and innovation management from IETEC (2012), 10 years of experience in R&D management.
Marcella Braga, PhD
Lab Manager
Marcella Braga is the laboratory manager at CQMED. She has a PhD. in Molecular Biology from UNIFESP, and a MSc in Biophysics from UFRJ. Marcella is in charge of biosafety, equipment maintenance/training, besides coordinating the team technician.
Paula Drummond, PhD
Communication Manager
Paula is motivated by making science attractive to different audiences. She’s been writing about science since 2013. Biologist, specialist in science communication, PhD in Science and Technology Policy and post doc in Science Dissemination at Labjor (Unicamp).
Bruno Ciro do Nascimento
Information Technology
Bruno is graduated in Informatics for Business Management at Paula Souza State Center for Technological Education (2010). He has experience in Computer Science, with an emphasis on Methodology and Computer Techniques.
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