LABORATORY OF SYNTHESIS OF BIOINSPIRED MOLECULES

Professor at Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Uberlândia, MG, Brazil. Bacharel in Chemistry (2006-2010, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil), Master in Inorganic Chemistry (2011-2013, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil), Doctor of Sciences (2013-2017, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil). Visiting Professor/Scientist at Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research (2021-2022,MPIP, Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany). Experience in Chemistry; emphasis in Coordination Chemistry, Bioinorganic Chemistry and Biomedicine. Major interests rely on inorganic and physical chemistry applied in medicine.

Currently, his research is focused on the following goal: development of new bioinspired macromolecules and materials encompassing a diversity of building blocks such as metal ions, proteins, peptides, DNA, carbohydrates, lipids and synthetic polymers to be applied primarily as new antibacterial and antitumor compounds. This ambitious goal involves: development of new methods for specific modification of biomolecules (e.g. proteins) for self-assembly; development of new organic compounds with antitumor or antimicrobial activities to be used as carriers and synergistic ligands of metal ions; synthesis of ligands for association of metal ions and macromolecules; synthesis and evaluation of antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities of metal complexes, in special those encompassing Cu(II), Ag(I), Au(I), Au(III), Pt(II), Pt(IV) and Pd(II) ions; determination of chemical, biophysical and biological properties of the resultant systems. Typical characterization techniques include: CHNS and TG/DT analyses, 1D and 2D NMR; ESI-QTOF-MS and MALDI-TOF-MS; gel electrophoresis; IR, UV and fluorescence spectroscopies; Powder and single-crystal X-Ray diffraction; SER, TEM, AFM; mechanical assays such as viscosity, roughness/toughness and elasticity measurements.