Agenda IB
Luciana Bolsoni Lourenço
We are interested in associating cytogenetic and genomic analyses with phylogenetic and phylogeographic inferences to study karyotype evolution in frogs.
Jose Luiz Proenca Modena
Since 2015, José is professor in the Department of Genetics, Evolution, Microbiology and Imunology, Institute of Biology at University of Campinas (Unicamp). Currently, he heads a Laboratory of Emerging Viruses (LEVE) where he is conducting researches about pathogenesis of Oropouche virus (OROV), Zika virus (ZIKV), Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and the recently discovered new Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). During COVID-19 pandemics, Proença-Modena worked to mitigate the social and public health impact of this disease in the metropolitan region of Campinas, having a leading role for molecular diagnosis, scientific dissemination, and development of research that has contributed to the understanding of new epidemiological, evolutionary and pathophysiological aspects of COVID-19. He published 62 papers in indexed journals and wrote two book chapter in virology and microbiology.
Elizabeth Bilsland
The current COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of our society to infections diseases. Whilst the current media focus is centered on SARS-CoV2, we must be prepared for the threat posed by drug-resistant parasites, fungi, and bacteria. The Synthetic Biology Laboratory (LaBS) was established in 2016 and is based on synthetic biology as a tool for drug discovery, using yeast and bacteria as hosts for heterologous expression and a platform for genome-wide screens. We have 3 well-established lines of investigation, which can further be improved and rapidly yield results. We are also introducing a novel highly ambitious line of research, taking advantage of our strong international collaboration network, for the development of novel antimicrobials inspired by secondary metabolites from native actinomycetes, filamentous fungi, or plant species.