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I hold an M.Sc. (2011) and Ph.D. (2016) in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Brazil. During my doctoral studies, I was awarded a visiting fellowship at the Unit of Biochemical Toxicology, IMM, ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡, where I later joined Professor Kristian Dreij’s group as a postdoctoral researcher in Genetic Toxicology. Since 2023, I have held the position of Research Specialist at IMM.

My research focuses on Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis, with a particular emphasis on characterizing air pollution from biomass burning. This includes particulate matter sampling, physicochemical analysis, pollutant dispersion modeling, and the evaluation of biological effects in both in vitro and in vivo systems.

I am currently involved in the development of a new model for cancer risk assessment (CRA) of air pollution, based on in vitro testing of collected environmental samples. Our recent study at IMM demonstrates that new approach methodologies (NAMs) can serve as effective tools to enhance CRA strategies, particularly in the context of complex environmental mixtures such as air pollution.

Development of new approach methodologies for assessing cancer risks associated with air pollution mixtures

Air pollution is a complex mixture of compounds with different biological activities that makes risk assessment a challenge. Current strategies for cancer risk assessment (CRA) of air pollution are today based on a pollutant-by-pollutant approach. This is a great simplification and excludes the possibility of mixture effects that may underestimate actual human health risks. The aim of this project is to address these issues by developing a New Approach Method (NAM) for CRA of air pollution mixtures. We propose that CRA of complex mixtures should be based on in vitro toxicity testing of whole mixtures and determination of relative Mixture Potency Factors (MPFs) (). We have previously shown that this approach can accurately determine the genotoxic potency of individual air pollutants (). Using this NAM, we aim to show that CRA of air pollution based on in vitro MPFs better predict the lung cancer risk associated with exposure to ambient air PM than currently accepted component-based approaches. We are now applying this NAM with samples representing different emission sources and environments (, ). This project is funded by the Swedish Research Council FORMAS, STINT/CAPES, and ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡. PI: Kristian Dreij

Assessment of acute respiratory and cardiovascular health effects due to biomass smoke exposure in the Brazilian Amazon

Biomass burning poses serious global threats to climate, biodiversity, and public health. Nearly 3 billion people worldwide are exposed to biomass-derived particulate matter (PM), yet the acute health effects of outdoor wildfires remain underexplored in many regions. This project investigates the acute respiratory and cardiovascular effects of short-term biomass smoke exposure among populations living in the Amazon deforestation arc. We combine personal exposure monitoring,  biomarkers of cardiopulmonary function, and in vitro toxicological analysis of collected PM using lung cell models. This integrative approach provides both mechanistic insights and real-world relevance. To our knowledge, this is the first study to link personal exposure data with functional and mechanistic endpoints in this region. The project is supported by the Swedish Research Council FORMAS and ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡.PI: Felipe de Oliveira Galvão