About Us
The Laboratory of Biology of Cell-Cell Interactions was created in 1997, by professors Walderez Dutra and Annamaria Ravara Vago. At the time, the laboratory was located in block N3, where it was located until 2010. After that, Professor Paula, a former doctoral student of prof. Walderez joined LABIC, followed by Professor Juliana and Professor Rodolfo. Currently, the laboratory is located in block Q2, in room 64, with access through the entrance of the Museum of Morphological Sciences or by inside ICB building.
The laboratory has more than 30 students, guided by the four professors with different lines of research, which revolve many diseases, such as obesity, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, dengue, periodontitis and others.
The structure of the laboratory is very complete, allowing analysis of cellular interactions in immunological, histopathological, genetics, diagnostics and vaccinology studies, using several methodologies such as Flow Cytometry, microscopy, genomic and epigenomic analysis, among others.
Many students passed through this laboratory, and developed significant projects for the scientific community in the area of Cell Biology, Immunology and Parasitology. Check out more details about the working groups:
The group supervised by professor Walderez is currently constituted by postdoctoral student Carolina Cattoni Koh, by doctoral students Eula Graciele Amorim, Teresiama Velikkakam and Thaiany Goulart de Souza, in addition to undergraduate students Cecília Horta, Pedro Paulo Diniz and Eduardo Gutseit.
They work with the immunoregulation and immunopathology in tropical diseases such as American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis and Chagas Disease, in an attempt to discover new mechanisms and immune defense processes for more efficient treatments, being part of the National Institute of Science and Technology in Tropical Diseases (INCT-DT) .
The main national partners are: the Immunology Service of the Federal University of Bahia and the Corte de Pedra Health Post; Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology Service at UFMG; Translational Immunooncology Center of the ACCamargo Cancer Center. International contributors: Igor Almeida (University of Texas El Paso, US); Jenefer Blackwell and Nick Gay (University of Cambridge, UK), Jiyothy Nagayothi (Rutgers University, US), Dan Beiting (University of Pensilvannia, US).
The group supervised by Professor Paula is composed of doctoral students Rafael Silva Lima and Luiz Paulo Carvalho Rocha, and by undergraduate students Thaynara Nascimento and Julya Simões.
The group works on the biology of inflammatory processes, with an emphasis on molecular studies in oral diseases. Projects on genetic and epigenetic events in conditions with an inflammatory profile, such as Obesity and Periodontitis, have been carried out by the group.
The group supervised by professor Juliana consists of postdoctoral students Nayara Ingrid de Medeiros, Rafael Teixeira de Mattos and Edson Alexandre, doctoral students Tereza Minto Cal, Mayara Belchior, Rafael Silva, Bruna Frenandes and Danielle Silva and undergraduate students Wanderson Lemes Costa Campos, Bruna Roque and Júlia Brandão Lima Santos.
They work on immunoregulation in infectious, parasitic and metabolic diseases and prognostic markers of clinical and therapeutic evolution in infectious, parasitic and metabolic diseases, being part of research by the Rene Rachou-FIOCRUZ-MG Institute.
The main partners are Dr Rodrigo Correa Oliveira, Dr Andrea Teixeira Carvalho, Dr Silvana Maria Eloi and Dr Olindo Assis Martins-Filho, from the Rene Rachou-FIOCRUZ-MG Institute; Dr. Teresa Cristina Ferrari, Dr. Cláudia Couto, Dr. Luciana Costa Faria and Dr. Paula Vieira Teixeira Vidiga from the UFMG Medical School; Dr Francisco Carlos Félix Lana from the UFMG School of Nursing; Dr Andre Talvani Pedrosa da Silva from UFOP; Dr Pedro Weslley Souza Do Rosário, Dr Roberta Dos Santos Rocha and Maria Regina Calsolari Pereira De Souza from the Medical Specialties Center - Santa Casa; Dra Tatjana Keesen de Souza Lima Clemente from UFPB and Dr Fabrício Rios from UFMT
The group supervised by Professor Rodolfo is composed of postdoctoral students Reysla Maria da Silveira Mariano, Patrícia Silveira, Mariana Amalia Figueiredo Costa, doctoral students Jaqueline Costa Leite, Ana Alice Gonçalves Maia, Diana Souza de Oliveira, Diogo Fonseca Soares Pereira, Helen Silva Ribeiro , Ingrid dos Santos Soares Conrad, Daniel Ferreira Lair, for the master student Thaiza Aline Pereira Santos for undergraduate students Augusto Ventura da Silva and Sérgio Benevenuto Ribeiro Filho.
They work on Biotechnology applied to the development and testing of immunobiologicals, seeking to develop vaccines against diseases such as Leishmaniasis.