CV Lattes
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Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IB) (Institutional affiliation from the last research proposal) Birthplace: Brazil
Graduated in Biological Sciences (2001), holds a Ph.D. in Sciences (2006), a postdoctoral degree (2008), and earned her livre-docência (a senior academic title similar to habilitation) in 2017 from the University of São Paulo. She is currently an Associate Professor III at the Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo. She completed research internships at the University of Florida and the University of Wollongong. She maintains active international collaborations with researchers from the United States, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Australia.She is involved in academic activities at various levels. She served as a graduate student representative in the Department of Physiology at the Institute of Biosciences, USP, and was a teaching assistant for undergraduate and graduate courses at IB-USP. She currently teaches at both undergraduate and graduate levels and supervises undergraduate research (IC) and graduate students.She is the chair of the undergraduate committee at IB and vice-head of the Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology. She was a member of the Graduate Program Committee (CCP) for the Biological Sciences Genetics program and served as coordinator of the Molecular Sciences program at USP. She also represents associate professors on the departmental council of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology.She participates in outreach activities, including the IB-USP Winter Course, the vacation course offered by the Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology at IB-USP, IB-USPs Thematic Week, USP and the Professions Fair, and supervises high school students in pre-scientific initiation projects and proposes AEX (Extension and Culture Activities).She has experience in neurophysiology, cell biology, and molecular biology, with a focus on the following topics: neuronal cell culture, gene expression analysis, neurodegeneration, cell communication, mitochondrial transport, intracellular trafficking, and protein aggregate formation and dispersion. Her research focuses on the biology of neurons during neurodegenerative processes.Email: merari@usp.br (Source: Lattes Curriculum)
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The Human Genome Research Center (HGRC-CEPID I) was initiated in 2000 with the main goal of increasing our basic knowledge and diagnosis of prevalent genetic diseases in the Brazilian population. The HGRC concentrated largely on Mendelian disorders, mainly neuromuscular, craniofacial, and mental disability. The scope was expanded in 2005 by incorporating stem-cell research, both as a too…
Protein misfolding is a feature of normal aging process, however it is more pronounced in age-related neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. There are two biological hallmarks in Alzheimer's disease, the formation of extra-cellular ²-amyloid peptide plaques and the intracellular deposition of tau protein tangles. Alpha-synuclein is the protein linked to…
It is believed that the loss of the protein quality control impairs the cellular events culminating in neurodegeneration. In view of this, the purpose of the present study is to evaluate the cellular quality control system in in vitro (primary cell culture) and in vivo (before the onset of neurodegeneration symptoms) models of sporadic (using rotenone) and familial neurodegenerative disea…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
Developmental dyslexia is the most common specific learning disorder, affecting 5 to 17% of the world population. Individuals with this condition may experience difficulties with phonological processing, rapid naming, working memory, processing speed, and the automatic development of skills. SH2B3 has recently been associated with this condition. This gene encodes the adaptor protein 3 of…
The cellular systems responsible for regulating the action of the neurotransmitter glutamate play a crucial role in maintaining balance in the central nervous system. Glutamate acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter, performing important functions in neural development, synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. Dysregulation in glutamatergic neurotransmission can result in abnormalities …
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is considered the most harmful form of dementia in the elderly population and according to the 2021 Alzheimer's Disease International report, there are currently 55 million people in the world living with dementia, and that number tends to grow to about 139 million by 2050 as the population ages. Nevertheless, at present, there are no effective treatments, and thi…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
Alpha-synuclein is a 140-amino-acid protein coded by SNCA gene and is mainly found in presynaptic terminals of dopaminergic neurons, typically in a monomeric state. Structurally, the protein is divided into three domains: N-terminal, amphipathic; central domain (NAC), hydrophobic; lastly, C-terminal, the main target of post-translational modifications. In synucleinopathies, such as Parkin…
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting between 1% to 3% of the population over 65 years of age and being influenced by both sporadic and genetic factors. The main neuropathological characteristic of PD is the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the intraneuronal accumulation of insoluble protein aggregates calle…
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neuropathology caused by neuron death and loss of synapses, and is recognizable as dementia or cognitive dysfunction. The main alterations that occur in neurons and lead to the neuropathological injuries are the cumulation of extracellular plaques mainly made out of amyloid-beta peptide and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles caused by tau protein hyperf…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes progressive cognitive and behavioral impairments, affecting millions of people worldwide, with numbers expected to increase significantly as the global population ages. Neuroinflammation plays a critical role in AD progression, with microglia being central to the inflammatory response. Overactivation of microglia contrib…
Klotho protein is widely described as a neuroprotective and anti-aging protein, often associated with aging-related diseases, such as neurodegenerative disorders. Its functions in the kidney are somewhat well established. While it was shown to influence neuroinflammation and to produce beneficial effects in the brain and neurons, its mechanisms of action in the nervous tissue remain elusi…
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that can be triggered by environmental and genetic factors. Alpha-synuclein (a-syn) is a protein encoded by the SNCA gene, in which point mutations (e.g., A53T; A30P; E46K) or gene duplication are associated with the genetic form of PD. Intercellular transfer of a-syn is known to play a role in the progression of PD, and previous st…
This scientific exchange will greatly improve understanding of processes related to protein aggregation that are associated with neurodegenerative disease. This collaboration will help for the first time initiate a detailed study on the role of extracellular chaperones in regulating the cell-cell propagation of protein aggregation "seeds" in an experimental model of Parkinson's Disease. T…
Aging is a worldwide issue and the understanding of the cellular events associated to this process are important for the study of age-related diseases, like in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's diseases (PD). Most cases of PD are sporadic and the small fraction of PD cases which are familial implicates genetic susceptibility, such as point mutations, dup…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
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| 7 / 7 | Completed research grants |
| 4 / 4 | Ongoing scholarships in Brazil |
| 32 / 28 | Completed scholarships in Brazil |
| 2 / 2 | Ongoing scholarships abroad |
| 5 / 5 | Completed scholarships abroad |
| 51 / 47 | All research grants and scholarships |
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