About us
In the framework of the Molecules Initiative for Neglected Diseases (MINDI) Consortium, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) and Universidade de São Paulo (USP), two leading Brazilian academic institutions, are working in collaboration with expert scientists from the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and have access to a very well organized network providing an integrated approach to modern drug discovery for tropical parasitic diseases.
São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Partnership for Technological Innovation Program (PITE) supports research projects in academic or research institutions developed in cooperation with researchers employed by companies in research centers located in Brazil or abroad and is co-funded by the companies concerned. The main aim of the program is to strengthen relationships between universities or research institutions and companies by facilitating cooperative co-funded research projects.
Team
Professional address: Instituto de Química Universidade Estadual de Campinas - UNICAMP Departamento de Química Orgânica, Cidade Universitária, Barão Geraldo Campinas, SP
Project title: Lead Optimization Latin America (LOLA) and Brazil Heterocycles (MMV)
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: Full Professor/PhD
Short description of activities:
LOLA DNDi and MMV Principal Investigator and MINDI Consortium Coordinator
Prof. Dias research group started, in 2013, collaborations with Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV, www.mmv.org) and with Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi, www.dndi.org), with the goal of developing new drugs for the treatment of Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and malaria, and to build a world class academic drug discovery center for tropical diseases in Latin America. This project is the first partnership involving MMV and DNDi, and the academia in Latin America that focus on lead optimization, a very complex and crucial step in the process of drug discovery, an area of research still very incipient in Brazil.
Thus, the work of Prof. Dias aims to develop drugs which can be orally administered, are highly effective, and have very low toxicity and cost. In this work, Prof. Dias, together many partners and world-leading scientists from academia and major world pharmaceutical companies, universities in Brazil and abroad are adding their efforts in favor of a single goal: SAVING THE LIVES of the most neglected people on this planet.
Professional address: São Carlos Institute of Physics (IFSC) – University of Sao Paulo (USP)
Project title: Medicinal Chemistry, Drug Design and Development for Neglected Tropical Diseases
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: Full Professor
Short description of activities:
Dr. Andricopulo is a Full Professor at the Sao Carlos Institute of Physics (IFSC), University of Sao Paulo (USP). He graduated in Chemistry at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) and conducted his Master’s and PhD studies in Organic Chemistry at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) with an internship at the University of Michigan. At the University of Michigan, he also carried out his postdoctoral studies in Medicinal Chemistry. His research with DNDi focuses on Medicinal Chemistry, in vitro evaluation and pharmacokinetics optimization for the discovery and development of new drug candidates for Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. He is coordinator of technology transfer at the Center for Research and Innovation in Biodiversity and Drug Discovery (CIBFar-CEPID/FAPESP) and scientific coordinator at the National Institute of Science and Technology in Biodiversity and Natural Products (INCT- BioNat). He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), full member of the Division of Chemistry and Human Health at the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), full member and executive director of the Sao Paulo State Academy of Sciences (ACIESP). He was president (2014-2016) of the Brazilian Chemical Society (SBQ) in which he was also director of the Medicinal Chemistry Division (2008-2010), general secretary (2010- 2012), successor president (2012-2014) and member of the Advisory Board (2016-2018). He was president of the World Chemistry Congress (IUPAC-2017) and member of the International Advisory Board of the IUPAC Centenary. He joined the USP-DNDi team in 2008.
Professional address: Institute of Chemistry – University of Campinas
Project title: DEVELOPMENT OF NEW CLINICAL CANDIDATES FOR THE TREATMENT OF MALARIA
Country of Birth: Pakistan
Title/Degree: Post-Doctoral Researcher
Short description of activities:
Graduated in Chemistry and Biology from University of Peshawar, Pakistan. Secured Master’s degree in organic chemistry from department of chemistry, University of Malakand, Pakistan. Worked as Junior research fellow at International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences-ICCBS, Karachi, Pakistan. He received a Ph.D (August-2015) for a thesis entitled “Exploring the Iodine(III)-Mediated Ring Contraction: New Substrates, Novel Conditions and Asymmetric Reactions” under the supervision of Prof. Luiz Fernando da Silva Jr (late 2017) from Institute of Chemistry University of Sao Paulo. He concluded post-doctoral studies (2016-2020) under the guidance Prof. Antonio Carlos Bender Burtoloso at Sao Carlos Institute of Chemistry (IQSC, USP), sponsored by FAPESP. During his post-doctoral studies, he accomplished the shortest total Synthesis of bio-active natural products (-)-Brussonol, (+)-Komaroviquinona and prepared their synthetic analogues (>15). He also developed new synthetic methodologies employing Sulphur ylides and Diazo compounds. Currently, He is working as Post-doctoral researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Luiz Carlos Dias at Institute of Chemistry-Unicamp funded by medicine for malaria venture (MMV). He is involved in design and synthesis of new clinical candidates for the treatment of malaria.
Professional address: Avenida João Dagnone, 1100 - Jardim Santa Angelina, São Carlos - SP/Brasil.
Project title: Discovery of new Plasmodium falciparum inhibitors as drug candidates for malaria
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: Ph.D.
Short description of activities:
She has extensive experience in experimental models of malaria for drug development, including assays with Plasmodium vivax.
Her current research on developing new drugs, focusing on asexual blood stages, investigates the activity of different clinic and pre-clinic drug candidates against circulating isolates of P. falciparum and P. vivax from the Brazilian Amazon. This is a remarkable and unique field-study conducted at the Center for Tropical Medicine (Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil) within a Brazilian endemic area in cooperation with MMV.
Caroline is a very enthusiastic and proactive young scientist, and her scientific production consists of 2 book chapters, 34 publications on ISI indexed journals. The publications cover the development of different new classes of compounds against asexual blood forms, liver forms, and transmission blockers; ex vivo assays to investigate the activity of new drugs against P. vivax, elucidation of the mechanism of action of new compounds and resistance profile of circulating isolates from Brazilian Amazon.
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/6217232206685846
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-aguiar-40637b161/
Project title: Malaria
Title/Degree: Postdoctoral researcher
Short description of activities:
Bruce A. L. Sacchelli received his BSc degree in Chemistry in 2016 and his MSc degree in Chemistry in 2018 from the University of Londrina. In 2023, he completed his PhD study at the Institute of Chemistry, University of Sao Paulo, under the direction of Prof. L. H. Andrade. During his doctoral studies, he focused on novel synthetic methodologies for heterocycles based on the carbamoyl radical reactivity. Participated in an exchange program at the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon, where he performed research focused on catalysis aimed at the bioinspired reduction of nitrous oxide in the presence of hydrogen-donating molecules. He is working as Post-doctoral researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Luiz Carlos Dias at Institute of Chemistry-Unicamp funded by medicine for malaria venture (MMV). He is involved in design and synthesis of new clinical candidates for the treatment of malaria.
Project title: Malaria
Title/Degree: Postdoctoral researcher
Short description of activities:
My journey into chemistry had an inspiring starting point in the figure of a high school teacher. His passion for unraveling the world through the lens of chemistry flashed my interest in the field. Today, I understand organic chemistry as a field of study and as the fundamental language through which nature expresses itself, intrinsically connecting us to its biochemical processes. This initial motivation led me to graduate in Chemistry at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar-Araras), where I dedicated myself to my studies between 2009 and 2014. The search for more profound knowledge in organic chemistry led me to a Master’s in Science at the São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (Unesp-Araraquara), which I completed in 2017. At this stage, I had the honor of developing my research under the experienced guidance of Prof. Dra. Vanderlan Bolzani, a renowned scientist in the field of natural product chemistry, and the valuable co-supervision of Prof. Dr. Nailton Nascimento-Júnior (medicinal chemist with solid training in the research group of Profs. Drs. Eliezer Barreiro and Carlos Alberto Manssour Fraga, UFRJ). During this period, the co-supervision of Dr. Gustavo Monteiro (researcher with solid training in organic synthesis from the research group of Prof. Dr. Luiz Carlos Dias, UNICAMP) was fundamental for the project’s progress. My desire for organic synthesis, an area central to innovation in materials and medicinal chemistry, was further cultivated during my PhD at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) from 2017 to 2021. Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Igor Jurberg, I immersed myself in the universe of diazo compounds. I explored the fascinating C-C, N-H, and C-H insertion reactions using the versatile tool of visible photochemistry of aryl-diazo-acetate and ketones. The consolidated expertise in synthetic methodology has opened up a diverse range of opportunities to work on important research projects. Whether in materials science, where the construction of new molecules is essential, or in medicinal chemistry, where organic synthesis represents the foundation for developing innovative drugs. In this way, synthetic methodology is the engine that drives the materialization of ideas. Continuing my training in the area of synthetic organic chemistry, I had the privilege of completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Lyon, France, between 2021 and 2023, under the influence of Dr. Gabriel Perli and the supervision of Prof. Dr. Sebastian Livi. In Lyon, I focused on synthesizing imidazole-derived liquid crystals using the Suzuki reaction, expanding my horizons in materials chemistry. Currently, as a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Luiz Carlos Dias, I direct my energy towards a challenge of great social relevance: the search for new therapeutic solutions for malaria. My work involves the synthesis, characterization, design, and improvement of molecules with the potential to combat this disease.
Professional address: DNDi, Chemin Louis Dunant 15, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Project title: Discovery Director, DNDi
Country of Birth: United Kingdom
Title/Degree: B.Sc., Ph.D.
Short description of activities:
Charles Mowbray is the Discovery Director at DNDi responsible for advancing new chemical entities into development. He joined DNDi in 2011 and has worked extensively on leishmaniasis and other kinetoplastid diseases. Dr. Mowbray also conceived the NTD Drug Discovery Booster consortium with 8 global pharmaceutical companies. He serves as an expert advisor to organisations working on medicinal chemistry, neglected diseases and global health projects.
Dr. Mowbray joined Pfizer in Sandwich, UK in 1992 and spent 19 years working as a medicinal chemist and project leader across multiple diseases, target classes and medicinal chemistry strategies and from target selection through to clinical candidate delivery. Six of these drug candidates have entered Phase I and two have completed Phase IIb clinical studies.
Dr Mowbray gained both BSc and PhD degrees in chemistry from the University of Exeter and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of British Columbia and the University of Nottingham. Dr. Mowbray is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is an author of over 50 scientific publications and patents.
Professional address: ICC - Entrance G, 3rd Floor, Route de Pré-Bois 20, PO Box 1826, 1215 Geneva 15, Switzerland
Project title: Project Coordinator, Drug Discovery
Country of Birth: France
Title/Degree: Master of Sciences
Project title: Chagas disease
Title/Degree: PhD student
Short description of activities:
Francielle Dutra is a chemical engineer by training, having studied at Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (PUC Minas). She obtained her master’s degree in Organic Chemistry from University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Currently, she supports projects of the Global H2L LO Chagas consortium coordinated by DNDi, under the supervision of Professor Dr. Luiz Carlos Dias and Dr. Luiza Cruz, as a PhD student at UNICAMP. Working on ligand-based design, multi-parametric small molecule optimization in the hit assessment and hit-to-lead evaluation phases.
Professional address: Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo
Project title: Structural biology, drug screening and discovery in Chagas disease, Malaria, arboviruses and COVID-19
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: Full Professor, PhD
Short description of activities:
Coordinator of CIBFar, a prime partner of the PITE/UNICAMP/USP in Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and malaria drug discovery. CIBFar, the Center for Research and Innovation in Biodiveristy and Drug Discovery is a CEPID/FAPESP and its mission is to promote advances in effective drug lead discovery through basic and applied science using biochemical, biological and pharmacological assays, as well as state-of-the-art methods in medicinal chemistry, natural products chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, and molecular and structural biology.
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/3107924103069456
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glaucius-oliva-167156a4/
Professional address: Rua Josué de Castro, s/n - Cidade Universitária, Campinas - SP, 13083-970
Project title: Drug Discovery for Chagas Disease
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Short description of activities:
Gleiston Gonçalves Dias received his bachelor’s (2014), M.Sc. (2017), and Ph.D. (2021) degree in Chemistry at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil). He was a visiting Ph.D. student at Göttingen Universität (Germany – 2017-2018) working under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Lutz Ackermman on C-H activation methodologies.
During his Bachelor studies, Dr. Dias worked in the development of compounds with potential applications against T. cruzi and cancer diseases. In the master research, the focus changed to the synthesis of fluorescent compounds for application on biological imaging assays. In Ph.D. studies, new synthetic strategies involving C-H activation catalysis to achieve trypanocidal compounds were developed. The pos-doctoral research was accomplished at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (2022) working in the development of molecular logic gates. He is trained in synthetic organic chemistry with a focus on methodologies development, catalysis, C-H activation and cross-coupling reactions, fluorescent dyes, sensors, and bioactive compounds. Dr. Gleiston Dias joined the DNDi team in December of 2022 to work with the design and synthesis of compounds for the Chagas disease target under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Luiz Carlos Dias.
Lattes: http://buscatextual.cnpq.br/buscatextual/visualizacv.do;jsessionid=9955EA66C40875CFC5320CE2C708F3BC
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gleiston-dias-85b96b20a/
Professional address: Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative - Latin America, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Project title: Lead Optimization Latin America (LOLA)
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: PhD
Short description of activities:
Drug Discovery Manager – DNDi
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/5657186266877840
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jadelkratz/
Project title: Chagas
Title/Degree: PhD Student
Short description of activities:
PhD Student in Organic Chemistry at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Technological Chemist major from UNICAMP Institute of Chemistry (2021-2024). From 2023 to 2024, worked as an undergraduate student researcher at the Synthetic Organic Chemistry Lab (LQOS) in association with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) – LOLA Project.
Currently, works on the synthesis, functionalization and biological evaluation of saturated phenyl bioisosteres in anti-chagasic compounds, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Luiz C. Dias and co-supervision of Dr. Luiza Cruz, in collaboration with DNDi (Global H2L LO Chagas Consortium). Main work areas include Organic Synthesis and Medicinal Chemistry, with focus on the planning and optimization of bioactive compounds for the treatment of Neglected Diseases.
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/6917837641299868
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nogueirajp
Professional address: Sao Carlos Institute of Physics (IFSC) – University of Sao Paulo (USP)
Project title: Drug Design and Development for Chagas Disease and Leishmaniasis
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Short description of activities:
Dr. Leonardo L. G. Ferreira is a medicinal chemist and his research with DNDi focuses on medicinal chemistry, in vitro evaluation and pharmacokinetics optimization for the discovery and development of new drug candidates for Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. He graduated in Biomedicine at the University of Araraquara and conducted his Master’s and PhD studies in Biomolecular Physics at the Laboratory of Medicinal and Computational Chemistry at the Sao Carlos Institute of Physics (IFSC) – University of Sao Paulo (USP) under the supervision of Prof. Adriano D. Andricopulo. He is a research fellow at IFSC-USP since 2013. During his postdoctoral fellowship he also investigated the pharmacokinetics profile and the activity of synthetic and natural products against kinetoplastid protozoa as a visiting researcher at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. He has experience in drug design and development for neglected tropical diseases, medicinal chemistry, pharmacokinetics, enzyme kinetics, in vitro phenotypic assays, molecular modeling, quantitative structure-activity relationships and virtual screening. He joined the USP-DNDi team in 2013.
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/4058125346341305
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonardo-ferreira-9a901a7b/
Project title: Chagas disease
Title/Degree: Master’s degree student
Short description of activities:
Luiz Fernando obtained his BSc in Chemistry from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Campinas, Brazil. During this time, he worked at the Laboratory of Synthetic Organic Chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Dr Luiz Carlos Dias. He carried out an undergraduate research project, working with team members on the discovery and early optimization of 1H-Indole-2-carboxamides with Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi Activity. Afterward, to further increase his knowledge in the field of parasitic diseases, he got a The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) MSc fellowship to pursue his MSc degree in organic chemistry, also at UNICAMP, currently under Prof. Dr. Luiz Carlos’s supervision and co-supervision by Dr. Luiza dos Reis Cruz. In his current research project, he works on the molecular design and synthesis of spirochromane derivatives to develop new, safer antichagasic agents in collaboration with DNDi.
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/4410591099237992
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luiz-fernando-nascimento-de-oliveira/
Project title: Chagas disease
Title/Degree: Postdoctoral researcher
Short description of activities:
Luiz Guilherme studied Technological Chemistry at the State University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG), where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in 2023. He is currently a Master’s student in Professor Luiz Carlos Dias’ research group and has been part of the DNDi working group since November 2024, working in design and synthesis of compounds for the treatment of tropical parasitic diseases.
Lattes: https://lattes.cnpq.br/2507456618725972
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luiz-guilherme-soares-do-amaral/
E-mail: lcruz@dndi.org
Professional address: Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative - Latin America, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Project title: Lead Optimization Latin America
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: PhD
Short description of activities:
Dr. Luiza Cruz is the Drug Discovery Coordinator at DNDi, supporting Dr. Jadel Kratz in the coordination of LOLA and other drug discovery activities in the region.
Dr. Cruz is a pharmacist by training, having done her studies at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). During this period, she completed an internship at Medicines for Malaria Venture, working there within the drug discovery team, with Dr. Jeremy Burrows. Afterwards, she got her MRes degree in organic chemistry, also at UFMG. She then moved to England to pursue her doctoral studies at Imperial College London under the supervision of Prof. Anthony Barrett and Prof. Matthew Fuchter. There she worked on lung cancer drug discovery, taking care of the synthetic efforts as well as developing and performing some of the biological assays, this last part done at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, US, with Prof. Deborah Lannigan. After completing her PhD, she was appointed as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, US, to work with Prof. Stephen Martin in drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases. Prior to joining DNDi, she worked as a postdoctoral research fellow and group leader in the group of Prof. Luiz Carlos Dias at Unicamp.
Professional address: Department of Chemistry, UNICAMP - BRAZIL
Project title: Lead Optimazation Latin America (LOLA)
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: PhD Chemistry
Short description of activities:
He studied Industrial Chemistry at the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM, Santa Maria/RS, Brazil) where, in sequence, he has completed his MSc degree in organic chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Ademir Farias Morel. Having been awarded with a DAAD-scholarship, he moved to Germany to continue his graduation studies under the guidance of Prof. Ludger A. Wessjohann, starting at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität Mϋnchen (LMU, Munich). After a short stay at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (The Netherlands), he finished his PhD in Chemistry at the Martin-Luther- Universität Halle-Wittenberg (Germany). During his doctoral studies he investigated the suitability of an aromatic prenyltransferase (PTase) as a putative biocatalyst for chemoenzymatic processes. In parallel, he has developed a new method for the synthesis of isoprenyl diphosphates (the substrates of PTAses). He joined Prof. Luiz C. Dias’ group in 2007, engaged in the WHO/TDR program and since July 2013 he is a postdoctoral fellow of the DNDi team working on Chagas & Leishmaniasis projects. His major tasks are the planning and synthesis of organic compounds for biological evaluation.
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/5128928478406417
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-aur%C3%A9lio-dessoy-524b4539/
Project title: Chagas disease
Title/Degree: Postdoctoral researcher
Short description of activities:
Dr. Varela has a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy (2015) from Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Following her studies, she completed her MSc and PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr. João Paulo dos Santos Fernandes, at the same university, studying novel bioactive compounds for Chagas’ disease. During her PhD, she received training in medicinal chesmitry and DMPK at the Wellcome Centre for Anti-infectives Research (WCAIR) from the University of Dundee (UK). Upon completion of her PhD, Dr. Varela started a post-doctoral fellowship within the same group, working on different projects (multi-target compounds for CNS disorders, antimicrobial compounds and antimelanogenic compounds). In 2023, she joined the group of Prof. Dr. Luiz Carlos Dias (UNICAMP), as a Post-Doctoral Researcher, working in collaboration with DNDi to find novel pre-clinical candidates for Chagas’ disease.
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/7154916827392176
Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/marina-varela
Project title: Malaria
Title/Degree: Postdoctoral researcher
Short description of activities:
Natália Goedtel Medeiros holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry (2014), a teaching degree in Chemistry (2019), an M.Sc. (2017), and a Ph.D. (2023) in Chemistry from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil. During her Ph.D., which included a research stay at The University of Akron (2020), she worked on the development of fluorescent probes for mitochondrial imaging, gaining experience in synthetic organic chemistry and photophysical characterization. She has also contributed to the development of electrochemical and enzymatic biosensors, including platforms for adenosine and glucose detection using nanostructured materials. Her background integrates molecular design, sensing technologies, and analytical methods applied to chemical biology.
In 2024, she began her postdoctoral studies in a drug discovery project focused on identifying preclinical candidates for the treatment of malaria, within the MMV consortium, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Luiz Carlos Dias. Her role includes the design and synthesis of novel small molecules for in vitro and in vivo evaluation in hit-to-lead stage projects.
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/9135026033704201
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-goedtel-medeiros
Professional address: Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), PO Box 1826, 20 Route de Pré-Bois ,1215 Geneva 15, Switzerland
Project title: : Research Partnership for Technological Innovation (PITE-FAPESP) to discover novel drug candidates for the treatment of parasitic tropical diseases
Country of Birth: United Kingdom
Title/Degree: PhD
Short description of activities:
MMV project director for Malaria drug discovery project with Unicamp and USP
Professional address: Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) 15 Chemin Louis-Dunant 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Project title: Discovery Project Leader
Country of Birth: Sweden
Title/Degree: PhD
Short description of activities:
Discovery Project Leader at DNDi in Geneva, Switzerland. Leads part of the DNDi discovery project portfolio focusing on the discovery of new and improved treatments for vector born tropical diseases focusing on Leishmaniasis and Chagas Disease.
Professional address: Sao Carlos Institute of Physics (IFSC) – University of Sao Paulo (USP)
Project title: Pharmacokinetic and Biological Properties Evaluation of Drug Candidates
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Short description of activities:
Dr. Rafael Consolin Chelucci is a Medicinal Chemist working with the DNDi team in the Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis project. He is a pharmacist by training, having done his studies at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the Sao Paulo State University – UNESP. During this period, he did scientific initiation in pharmacology and further in medicinal chemistry. After, he has got his Master’s and PhD degrees in pharmaceutical sciences (medicinal chemistry – drug design), also at Unesp, both in drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases. After completing his PhD, he begins his postdoctoral research fellow at the University of São Paulo, to work with Prof. Adriano Andricopulo, developing studies of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic using mass spectrometry
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/0374658434404639
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafael-consolin-chelucci-ba8701146/
Professional address: Universidade de São Paulo Instituto de Física de São Carlos, São Carlos-SP, Brasil
Project title: Discovery of new Plasmodium falciparum inhibitors as drug candidates for malaria
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: PhD in Physics
Short description of activities:
Associate Professor at the Institute of Physics of São Carlos (IFSC) of the University of São Paulo (USP). He developed high-quality innovative assays to evaluate the antimalarial properties and biological modes of action of test compounds. He leads a Medicine for Malaria Venture (MMV) center of excellence which screens all MMV portfolio compounds for activity against the strains of malaria currently circulating in Brazil.
These assays are useful for the discovery of the next generation of antimalarial drugs. He solved the three-dimensional structure of key proteins, both alone and in complex with inhibitors, from various pathogenic organisms, including Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Zika virus. These structures unraveled the key molecular features of the proteins from these microorganisms that help the discovery of new lead compounds for drug development. His research combines biophysical, computational and in vitro assays for understanding the molecular and cellular basis of inhibition and contributes to the discovery of new drug candidates for infectious diseases.
He has published over 70 scientific papers and 6 book chapters. He was the Chair of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry of the Brazilian Chemical Society (SBQ), affiliated-member of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS, 2015 – 2020) and Young Scientist of the World Economic Forum (WEF, Class of 2017).
Professional address: Carlos Institute of Physics (IFSC) – University of Sao Paulo (USP)
Project title: Drug Discovery for Neglected Tropical Diseases
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: Laboratory Specialist
Short description of activities:
Renata is a chemist and works with DNDi in the discovery of novel drug candidates for Chagas disease. She graduated at the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA). During this period, she initiated her scientific career at the Chemistry Department, working in the Natural Products field. Afterwards, she got her master´s degree in Natural Products at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) with Prof. Dr. Moacir Pizzolatto and her PhD in Medicinal Chemistry/Natural Products in the same laboratory under Dr. Rosendo A. Yunes supervision. During her PhD studies she did part of the research at the University of Michigan Chemistry Department. She was hired as Research Assistant at the Herbarium at the University of Michigan where she worked with evolution and development of plants. Her postdoctoral studies were carried out at the same university at the Pharmacy Department working with enzyme kinetics. Her second postdoctoral fellowship was at IFSC – USP in Protein Expression and Purification. In 2010 she was hired as a Laboratory Specialist at IFSC – USP. She joined the DNDi team in 2013.
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/6096279750824924
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renata-andricopulo-19946a3a/
Professional address: Avenida João Dagnone, 1100 - Jardim Santa Angelina, São Carlos - SP/Brasil.
Project title: Discovery of Plasmodium falciparum Inhibitors as Clinical Candidates to Malaria Treatment
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: PhD
Short description of activities:
Master’s and PhD in Molecular Biology at Universidade Federal de São Paulo. She has experience on screening of new compounds against the blood stage of Plasmodium falciparum, investigating possible mechanisms and targets of these novel potential antimalarial agents. Moreover, she has an extensive involvement in basic biology of malaria parasites and in aspects of the parasite-host interaction, including the biological roles of the parasite proteases in its development and in the understanding of how the asexual blood stage parasites uptake nutrients of their host.
Sarah is a very motivated researcher and now, being a part of this team, she will certainly contribute to the discovery of new drug candidates for the treatment of malaria.
Lattes: http://lattes.cnpq.br/3990204365027336
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-maluf-phd-08721774/
Professional address: Sao Carlos Institute of Physics (IFSC) – University of Sao Paulo (USP)
Project title: Pharmacokinetics Evaluation of Drug Candidates for Trypanosomatid Diseases
Country of Birth: Brazil
Title/Degree: Laboratory Specialist
Short description of activities:
Simone is a biologist and works along DNDi in the discovery of novel drug candidates for Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis. She graduated at the Sao Paulo State University (UNESP). During this period, she initiated her scientific career at the Physics Department, working with the snake venoms team, with Prof. Dr. Raghuvir Krishnaswamy Arni. Afterwards, she got her master´s degree in Genetic and Evolution at the Federal University of Sao Carlos (UFSCar) with Prof. Dr. Flávio Henrique Silva and was hired as a laboratory technician by EMS Pharma to work in the BIOSINFAR – FINEP program, aiming at the development and production of biopharmaceuticals and synthetic derivatives. After two years at EMS Pharma, she joined the Laboratory of Medicinal and Computational Chemistry in 2010 to work with Prof. Dr. Adriano D. Andricopulo at the Sao Carlos Institute of Physics (IFSC) – University of Sao Paulo (USP), where she has worked in molecular biology, biochemistry, enzyme kinetics and pharmacokinetics.
Lattes: http://buscatextual.cnpq.br/buscatextual/visualizacv.do?id=K4730194E8
Project title: Malaria
Title/Degree: Undergraduate Student
Short description of activities:
Stephany is a student at Unicamp, pursuing a BSc in Chemistry. She has been an undergraduate researcher for MMV since July 2023 under Prof. Dias supervision. Her project is based on the design, synthesis and optimization of new chemical entities for malaria treatment. Stephany is the author of the awarded project entitled “Optimization of compounds from the pyrazole series for malaria treatment”, which granted her the Scientific Merit Prize by Unicamp in 2024 for her work as a medicinal chemistry in antimalarial drug discovery.
Project title: Several
Country of Birth: USA
Title/Degree: PhD (chemistry), University of California, Berkeley, 1984
Short description of activities:
Consulting on medicinal chemistry activities for several programs (kinetoplastids, helminths)
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-von-geldern-45689b3/
Project title: Discovery of preclinical candidates for treatment of Chagas disease
Title/Degree: Postdoctoral Researcher
Short description of activities:
Vinicius earned his BSc in Industrial Chemistry from Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (2018, Brazil), with a sandwich period at Kennesaw State University (2014–2015, United States). He completed his PhD in Chemical Sciences (2024) at the University of São Paulo under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Leandro Helgueira de Andrade, focusing on the development of radical and flow chemistry based synthetic methodologies for the construction of spiro oxindole scaffolds. As part of his doctoral studies, he conducted research as a visiting PhD student at the University of Vienna (2022–2023) under supervision of Prof. Dr. Nuno Maulide, working with asymmetric synthesis of β-ketoamides.
In 2024, Vinicius joined DNDi team as a post doctoral researcher, where he contributes to the design and synthesis of novel therapeutics for Chagas disease under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Luiz Carlos Dias.
Former Members
UNICAMP
Eun Lee
Guilherme Jardim
Mariana Ferrer Casal
Ramon Guerra de Oliveira
Paul John Koovits
Pablo David Grigol Martinez
Celso de Oliveira Rezende Junior
Rafael Augusto Alves Ferreira
Jose Francisco Civicos Garcia
Bruna Miranda Soares
João Paulo Scaramal
Susann Hannelore Krake
Marcelle de Souza Ferreira
Rodrigo Vezula Pirovani
Maitia Labora Poggi
Brian Wayne Slafer
Yuvixza Lizarme Salas
Bábara Leite
Deborah Araújo
Malkeet Kumar
Maria Cruz Mollo
USP
Ivani Pauli
Rodolpho C. Braga
Luma G. Magalhães
Larissa Romanello
Jean H. S. Rodrigues
Julia Medeiros
DNDi
Flora Fernanda Schulze Spíndola
