Adalberto Pessoa Junior

Adalberto Pessoa Jr. has been a faculty member in the discipline of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo (FCF/USP) since 1998. He holds a degree in Food Engineering from the Federal University of Viçosa (1984), a Master's degree in Biochemical-Pharmaceutical Technology from the University of São Paulo (TBFUSP), and a Ph.D. in the same field (1995), including a sandwich Ph.D. period in Germany at the Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung (GBF). He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, in 2000. He obtained his Habilitation (Livre-Docência) in 2001 and has been a Full Professor (MS-6) since 2006. He served as Vice-Head of the Department of Biochemical-Pharmaceutical Technology (TBFUSP) at FCF/USP from 2021 to 2025 and as Vice-Dean of FCF/USP from 2014 to 2018. He coordinated the TBF Graduate Program (20062014), chaired the Graduate Program Committee (20092014), and served on the FCF Graduate Commission between 20132014. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Brazilian Journal of Microbiology (BJM) from 2008 to 2014 and Associate Editor in Industrial Microbiology from 2006 to 2021. He served as President of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology from 2009 to 2013 and Vice-President of the Latin American Association of Microbiology from 2010 to 2014. He coordinated the Industrial Microbiology Division of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology (SBM) at various times over the past 25 years. He has advised Masters and Ph.D. students in the Graduate Program in Industrial Biotechnology at EEL/USP (19952000 and since 2023), the TBFUSP Program (since 1998), the Interunit Program in Biotechnology (ICB/USP) (since 2000), and the Professional Masters Program in Innovation in Diagnostics and Drug Development (ICB-FCF/USP). He coordinated the Brazilian Network for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology under the INCT initiative. He is a faculty member of the Ph.D. program in Chemical Engineering at the Università degli Studi di Genova (Italy) since 2006 and was a Visiting Professor in the Masters Program in Renewable Energy at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (Mexico) from 2008 to 2013, and in the Ph.D. Program in Molecular Biology and Applied Biotechnology at the Universidad de La Frontera (Chile) since 2011. He is a Senior Visiting Professor at Kings College London since 2020 and coordinator of the dual Ph.D. agreement with the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kings College London, since 2017. His research focuses on pharmaceutical biotechnology and bioprocessing, especially the production, purification, and application of biomolecules of pharmaceutical and food interest. He holds 13 biotechnology-related patents, and has authored more than 318 publications indexed in the ISI Web of Science, with over 8,800 citations and an h-index of 44 (as of June 2025). On Google Scholar, he has an H-index of 53 and 12,205 citations (June 2025). He was included in the Worlds Top 2 Most Influential Scientists list published by Elsevier and Stanford University researchers in the years 2020, 2021, and 2024, in both the career-long and single-year categories. He has authored six books in three languages, including Purificação de Produtos Biotecnológicos (Portuguese 1st and 2nd Editions); Biotecnologia Farmacêutica (1st Edition); Pharmaceutical Biotechnology: A Focus on Industrial Application (1st Edition English); Purificación de Productos Biotecnológicos (1st Edition Spanish). He has supervised 22 Masters students, 31 Ph.D. students, and 25 postdoctoral researchers. He is a consultant for Eurofarma S.A. in the field of biopharmaceuticals, and a partner in the companies Biobreyer PD Ltda and Bioinsumos Brasil Ltda. He is also the owner of EngBiotec Consulting in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Food and Cosmetics Ltda. He has developed RD projects with Prozyn Ltda and serves a judicial expert for the Brazilian Federal Court. (Source: Lattes Curriculum)