Marylyn Setsuko Arai

PhD (2024) and MSc (2018) in Materials Science and Engineering and Bachelors in Chemistry (2016) from the University of São Paulo (USP). Currently, she is a FAPESP postdoctoral fellow in the Nanomedicine and Nanotoxicology Group (GNano) at the São Carlos Institute of Physics (IFSC/USP), working on the development of biomimetic luminescent nanoparticles based on cell membrane coatings for theranostics of glioblastoma. In 2024, she completed her PhD at the Laboratory of Functional Materials Spectroscopy (LEMAF/USP) with the dissertation, Upconverting Nanoparticles in Sensing Technologies: From Design and Synthesis to Nanoplatforms. During her PhD, she conducted research internships at the Center for Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School (HMS/MGH), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hakho Lee, where she developed a portable biosensor for detecting biomarkers associated with kidney failure. She also interned at the Center for Soft Nanoscience (SON) at the University of Münster, working on sensors based on host-guest chemistry and nanomaterials. She has extensive experience in the synthesis and characterization of luminescent, plasmonic, and magnetic nanostructures, as well as in the functionalization of these materials and their conjugation with biomolecules. During her masters, she worked with luminescent nanoparticles doped with lanthanide ions (UCNPs) for use in photodynamic therapy for cells and photoinactivation of bacteria. As a FAPESP scientific initiation fellow during her undergraduate studies at the Organic Chemistry and Biocatalysis Laboratory of the São Carlos Institute of Chemistry (IQSC/USP), she also gained experience in pesticide biodegradation by bacteria and fungi and in the characterization of metabolites using chromatographic and spectrometric techniques. (Source: Lattes Curriculum)