Karine Frehner Kavalco

She is a Full Professor at the Federal University of Viçosa - Evolutionary Biology area and a supervisor of the master's Graduate Program of Conservation and Management of Natural and Agrarian Ecosystems (MCENA) at the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), as well as a master's and doctoral degree in the Graduate Program of Zoology (PPG-Zoo) at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). She has PhD in Genetics (University of São Paulo - USP, 2008), a Master in Genetics and Evolution (Federal University of São Carlos - UFSCar, 2003), and a Bachelor in Biological Sciences (State University of Western Paraná - UNIOESTE, 2000). She had a Postdoctorate fellowship between 2008 and 2010 at the Federal University of Viçosa. Between 2018 and 2019, she spent a sabbatical year as an "honorary visitor" at the University of Leicester, working with WGS and cytogenomics of neotropical fish species at the Lab of Pat Heslop-Harrison Trude Schwarzacher. Her studies have emphasized the evolutionary and ecological genetics of fish. Her scientific production mainly involves themes related to the knowledge of biodiversity and its evolution, especially Characiformes and Siluriformes. Since the beginning of the pandemic of COVID-19, she has been working on the front line, helping with the implantation of the Molecular Diagnostic Lab at UFV-CRP, providing to the Unique System of Health of Brazil (SUS) the genetic detection tests' of SARS-CoV-2 for the population of Alto Paranaíba, MG. Today, this laboratory provides other molecular exams of tropical diseases to SUS. Between September and November 2024, she spent a quarter at the Universität of Basel in Switzerland, developing a project in fish genomics in collaboration with the Salzburger lab. She acts directly with Scientific Outreach, emphasizing Biological Sciences and Evolution. She is a mother of two and had maternity leave in 2007 and 2013. She coordinates the Lab of Ecological and Evolutionary Genetics (LaGEEvo) and is currently conducting research in evolutionary genetics, fish cytogenomics, and molecular diagnostics of livestock-related diseases. She is also the co-founder of one of the first start-ups on the Rio Paranaíba campus of UFV, Brycon Research. In the RD field, she seeks partners to develop rapid tests for the identification of viral diseases in fish. (Source: Lattes Curriculum)