What is your current role? Tell us a bit about your research

I am currently a postdoc in Lab Alerta at Paulista School of Medicine/Federal University of São Paulo (EPM/UNIFESP), Brazil, working on antimicrobial resistance and bacterial infections. I am broadly interested in how bacterial pathogens evolve and adapt to different niches, and am fascinated by the many ways bacteria can modulate their behavior and metabolism to withstand antibiotics and other challenges. 

What got you excited about science communication?

Communication plays a vital role in science: it is what enables establishing collaborations, sharing discoveries, and building communities. I believe that doing science involves not only creating new knowledge but also disseminating it, especially beyond the confines of academia. Science needs more advocates in order to reach wider and perhaps more influential audiences (policy makers, industries, educators). And by making science more understandable and open, society’s perception of the value of science and the importance of scientific careers can be influenced positively.

Why did you choose to participate in the ASAPbio Fellow program?

The academic publishing system, even after the creation of Plan S and Open Access models, still fails to be supportive of its own authors and readers. Preprints are the most compelling force to have arisen in recent years in such ecosystem and are accelerating the dissemination of scientific discoveries. I wanted to become involved in the ASAPbio initiative because it is acting to change the status quo in scholarly communication and is promoting the creation of a healthier research environment based on openness, trust, and transparency. 

Ask me about…

The creative process — I like to think of it as being at the heart of every human endeavor, from science to art; Learning — virtually anything, but mostly languages; Music and movies — until the live music scene resumes, I will be enjoying my status of newly-converted cinephile; Plants — new to this club and loving it; Brewing beer—I am gearing up to start doing some applied microbiology at home.

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