Post Doctoral Associate
I was born in Sao Paulo/Brazil and completed my undergraduate degree in Pharmacy-Biochemistry at Sao Paulo State University (UNESP). I started my undergraduate research during my degree in the Department of Physiology and Pathology, School of Dentistry, UNESP where I studied the involvement of reactive oxygen species, specifically hydrogen peroxide, in the central modulation/regulation of blood pressure. After completing my degree, I was very enthusiastic about a career in research and continued my studies in the Joint Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences (PIPGCF) UFSCar/UNESP/Brazil. In my PhD studies, I investigated the role of reactive oxygen species and pro inflammatory cytokines in hypertension. Using animal models of hypertension like the spontaneous hypertensive rat (SHR), a model of neurogenic hypertension, and the 2-kidney-1-clip rat, a model of renovascular hypertension, I observed that injection of a catalase inhibitor (that increases endogenous hydrogen peroxide) decreased blood pressure in both models and also decreased pro inflammatory cytokines in the hypothalamus. After this, I began my post-doctoral training in the same Department in Brazil. My studies continued to focus on the mechanisms by which catalase inhibition reduces arterial pressure in hypertensive rats. More recently, my research has been inspired by the use of novel approaches, including denervation of renal afferent and/or efferent sympathetic nerves, as treatments for resistant hypertension. My passion and great interest in this study led me to connect with the notable Dr. John W. Osborn who gave me the opportunity to work with these new techniques in these models of hypertension. In September 2018 I moved to Minneapolis to continue my post-doc studies in Dr. Osborn’s Lab at the University of Minnesota. My collaboration with Dr. Osborn is focused on identifying new roles for, and connections between, renal nerves, oxidative stress and inflammation in renovascular hypertension.
