Research and Structures

 

Areas of Concentration

Biochemical and Molecular Pharmacology
Name Description
Analysis and evaluation of neurochemical and pharmacological mechanisms in neurological diseases Study of the neurochemical roots and pharmacological targets in neurological diseases.
Drug Development This line of research has been designed for the development of drugs against neglected tropical diseases (tuberculosis and malaria) and the development of drugs against chronic and degenerative diseases.
Evaluation of mechanisms involved in inflammatory and nociceptive alterations This line of research is concerned with the evaluation of mechanisms involved in inflammatory and nociceptive alterations
Evaluation of pharmacological targets in cancer treatment This line of research is concerned with the evaluation of pharmacological targets in cancer treatment and inflammation.
Medical Practice
Name Description
Cardiology/Cellular therapy This line of research is intended to assess the efficiency and safety of autologous implants of bone marrow stem cells in patients suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy and in patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction.
Cardiology/Risk Factors and genetics factors in cardiovascular diseases This line of research is concerned with assessing risk factors for cardiovascular surgeries using markers; traditional risk factors (dyslipidemias, arterial hypertension, diabetes, smoke addiction) and potential emerging ones (apolipoprotein B,small and dense LDL cholesterol) in coronary heart diseases.
Cellular metabolism and membrane transport in renal and metabolic diseases (or disease states) This line of research is designed for the study of physiopathogenic mechanisms of several renal and metabolic diseases.
Clinical Epidemiology This area of concentration is intended to develop research in clinical epidemiology focusing on its methodological and clinical aspects. This line of research intends to encourage the development of research projects that contribute to the progress in identification, intervention and promotion of determinants of the health-disease process in human population.
Clinical nephrology and arterial hypertension This line of research will address topics related to several aspects of clinical nephrology, renal function, arterial hypertension, renal and metabolic diseases.
Epidemiology and Environmental Health This course is intended to encourage the development of research into the area of epidemiology and environmental health with an eye to the methodological and clinical aspects. This line of research seeks to encourage the development of research projects that contribute to the advancement of the identification, intervention and promotion of the determinants of the health-disease process in human population.
Extra-renal dialysis and transplatation This line of research is intended for the study of different modalities of renal replacement therapies, with emphasis on organ transplantation, especially when it comes to immunology of transplants.
Functional and Molecular Image of the Body Functional imaging is the state-of-the-art in diagnostic imaging. Magnetic Resonance made a giant leap in that direction through the employment of ultra-rapid acquisition techniques, which have enabled the measurement of variations in oxygen consumption levels arising from the BOLD effect and an estimation of the cellularity of tissues through the diffusion technique. PET has enabled Nuclear Medicine to measure the level of consumption of glucose in the tissue, by making use of ionizing radiation. It is largely employed in the investigation of tumors and metastasis, which have naturally increased the consumption of glucose due to a larger metabolic level. More recently, the Dynamic PET has enabled the assessment of the consumption of glucose over time and the measurement of the most active regions more precisely.
Molecular Biology, immunology and stem cell This line of research is concerned with the study of molecular alterations in tumors, mainly those affecting the digestive and respiratory systems, through PCR techniques in real time, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry and cell cultivation. It will also look at Cell Therapy and Tissue Engineering.
Study abdomen adult and elderly healthy and sick with new technologies in Diagnostic Imaging First of all, this line of research is intended to introduce students to different abdominal organs in advanced imaging modalities, such as magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography. It is intended to study the normal anatomy of these organs and tissues and their anatomic variations, thus allowing for a comparison between healthy and unhealthy individuals. With this, we intent to provide deeper insights into the abdomen's normal anatomy and its anatomic variation through new imaging technologies. Additionally, this line of research will determine the diagnostic imaging accuracy of gastrointestinal tract and urinary system diseases. We are intent on reaching an earlier and more precise diagnosis of the diseases of adult and elderly patients, thus increasing their survival. It has been designed to produce researchers and professors who want to work within this line of research responsible for studying the most common diseases in our population.
Technological Innovations in the Health Area Curently, we are seeing worldwide the fast development of technologies, proceedings and medicines focus at the most effective treatment of diseases and the restoration of health. This accelerated step with which medical knowledge progresses makes it necessary to create a new mentality in medical training, stimulating curiosity, the active search for knowledge and constant updating. The number and complexity of the scientific processes that lead to this evolution are also worthy of attention, both due to the need for training to understand them, as well as the work opportunity they represent for doctors in general.
Training and Faculty Development in Health
Neurosciences
Name Description
Behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry This line of research will look at the neurobiology of psychiatric diseases and behavioral alterations in major neurological diseases.
Cognitive brain imaging This line of research will look at the development of new techniques for the analysis of neuroimaging and studies of neural bases of superior cognitive processes (for instance, language comprehension and acquisition, executive functions, spatial reasoning).
Epilepsy This line of research will cover clinical and electroencephalographic, pharmacological, neuroimaging and surgical studies in the realm of epilepsy. The direct involvement of São Lucas Hospital with the diagnosis, clinical treatment and epilepsy surgery opens interesting perspectives of investigation, seeking diagnostic refinement, new treatment options and the correlations of epileptic syndromes with structural alterations of the brain.
Neuroinflammation/Multiple Sclerosis/ neuromyelitis optica The inflammation resulting from neurological diseases may be primarily involved with the physiopathology of immunomediated diseases of the nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, ADEM - acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, autoimmune encephalitis and some neurological complications resulting directly or indirectly from viral or bacterial infections (e.g. meningoencephalitis). In other diseases, the inflammation plays a major role, but less clear than it is in strokes and in degenerative diseases of the central nervous system. The deregulation in the immune system, be it either temporary or permanent, may lead to injuries in the brain, bone marrow and peripheral nerves that cause permanent neuronal damage with the risk of aftereffects and permanent incapacity. By relying on advanced methods in molecular biology associated with clinical and imaging assessment (magnetic resonance, nuclear medicine), we have conducted research that is intended to understand the intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms that lead to an increase of pro-inflammatory substances such as cytokines, chemokines, the production of autoantibodies, complement system activation, proliferation / maturation of autoreactive lymphocytes T and B, microglial activation and the alteration of the blood-brain barrier. Besides, we have conducted research for the identification of specific biomarkers for each disease which may assist in the establishment of better diagnosis/prognosis and in experimental animal models for the study of physiopathology and innovative therapeutic interventions.
Neurology/ stem cells This line of research is concerned with the assessment of the possibility of regeneration of central and peripheral neurological injuries resulting from neurodegenerative diseases, with somatic stem cells, as well as with the study of the structural and functional mechanisms of regeneration from injuries.
Neurotoxic activity of ureases and derived peptides This line of research will address the neurotoxic and pro-inflammatory activities of ureases of different organisms. It will also address the methodologies of study of neurotoxicity relying on the use of insects-models. As well as this, it will look at ureases as virulence factors for pathogenic microorganisms, especially bacteria Helicobacter pylori and Proteus mirabilis and Cryptococcu yeasts.
The central nervous system (CNS) formation stages can be considered a great concert with the regency of different signaling molecules that trigger a cascade of dependent and complementary processes until the formation of all CNS structures as well as their different functionalities. The human brain is a puzzle of more than 100 billion pieces that must be accurately directed to its unique and specific location. The studies of Molecurar Bases of Embryonic Neurogenesis presents a comprehensive view of understanding the CNS, from its embryonic formation to neurogenesis in the adult brain, guiding clinical and pathological situations related to cerebral malformations and new therapeutic alternatives for CNS recovery. The use of molecular techniques as next-generation sequencing (NGS), super arrays, relative expression, genotyping, etc., are used to describe signaling pathways, genesis of pathologies, and application of precision medicine for the treatment of various diseases. The cell reprogramming at the embryonic level through the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) helps to understand embryonic neurogenesis and screening of new drugs for the treatment of alterations during the formation of the central nervous system and its associated pathologies
Surgical Practice
Name Description
Epidemiological, Clinicopathological, Radiological and Molecular aspects of malignant neoplasms. This area of concentration is intended to describe patients who suffer from malignant neoplasms in their different clinical stages, as well as to assess their clinical outcome by looking at the clinical, histopathological, radiological and molecular variables. Studies in this area may be accountable for addressing some issues that are still controversial among the scientific community.
Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome This line is concerned with research in the area of obesity and metabolic syndrome with consequences in co-morbidities involved or related to the aforementioned pathologies.
Videolaparoscopic Surgery This area of concentration is intended to assess the advantages of the procedures conducted using less invasive techniques.

Research Structures

Research Groups
Name Coordinator
Applied Pharmacology: Characterization of Mechanisms Involved in Pain, Inflammation and Cancer MARIA MARTHA CAMPOS
Cellular and Molecular Toxicology MAURICIO REIS BOGO
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab (DCNL) THIAGO WENDT VIOLA
EXPER – research and diagnosis RUBENS GABRIEL FEIJO ANDRADE
Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disorders LUIZ CARLOS BODANESE
Gene and Cellular Therapy and Tissue Engineering DENISE CANTARELLI MACHADO
Genetic Polymorphisms and Mutations Related to Human Diseases DENISE CANTARELLI MACHADO
Grupo de Pesquisa em Endocrinologia e Diabetes GABRIELA HEIDEN TELO FAY
Inflammation and Cellular Biophysics JARBAS RODRIGUES DE OLIVEIRA
Metabolic Transformations of Purines of Biological Importance CARLA DENISE BONAN
Molecular and Functional Biology LUIZ AUGUSTO BASSO
Neurosciences JADERSON COSTA DA COSTA
Neurosciences and Cellular Signaling JADERSON COSTA DA COSTA
Obesidade Mórbida e Síndrome Metabólica ALEXANDRE VONTOBEL PADOIN
Oncology Research Group ANDRE POISL FAY
Prejudice, vulnerability and psychosocial processes ANGELO BRANDELLI COSTA
RESEARC GRUP OF ADVANCED IMAGING TECHNIQUES OF ABDOMINAL DISEASES ALEXANDRE VONTOBEL PADOIN
Research Group in Nephrology CARLOS E POLI DE FIGUEIREDO
Research Group of Cancer Pharmacology FERNANDA BUENO MORRONE
Research Group on Epidemiology, Neurology and Immunology (GENIM) DOUGLAS KAZUTOSHI SATO
Signaling during differentiation of adult atem cells DENISE CANTARELLI MACHADO
Surgery for Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome CLAUDIO CORA MOTTIN
Research Center
Name Coordinator
CENTRO DE PESQUISA PRÉ-CLÍNCA DANIEL RODRIGO MARINOWIC
Instituto do Cérebro do RS JADERSON COSTA DA COSTA
Centro de Pesquisas em Biologia Molecular e Funcional LUIZ AUGUSTO BASSO