Agenda IB
Flávio Dias Passos
Zoology, malacology; biodiversity of marine molluscs; taxonomy, systematics, biogeography, anatomy and biology of bivalves, aplacophorans, gastropods and polyplacophorans.
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.
Sílvio Roberto Consonni
The main purpose of our lab is to recognize the effects of multiparity and ageing in cells and extracellular matrix during postpartum recovery at birth canal (pubic symphysis, uterine cervix and vagina) in mice. We pay particular interest to understand how birth and ageing have a significant effect in tissue homeostasis, which could help us to understand the pathophysiology of pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence and preterm. We focus on the connective tissue - an important site of cellular, molecular and hormonal signaling - and ask how this tissue responds (or not) to changes during and after first and multiple pregnancies. Using morphological, biochemical and molecular assays, we identified that recovery processes are regulated by cells and molecules in the birth canal and multiparity and ageing led them to not recover in the reproductive matrix mice.