Marilene Hohmuth Lopes, Ph.D.
Graduated in Biological Sciences at the Universidade Bandeirante de São Paulo (1999), and completed her doctorate in Oncology (2004) at the Antônio Prudente Foundation, at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, and was a postdoctoral fellow at same institution (2005 to 2008). She was appointed as a Young Researcher at the São Paulo branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (2008 to 2011). In 2011, she was named assistant professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICB) of the University of São Paulo (USP). Still in 2011, she established her research laboratory (Laboratory of Neurobiology and Stem Cells) to study stem cells in the context of neural development and brain cancer at the same department at ICB-USP. In 2016, she spent a gap year at the University of Western Ontario, working with Dr. Marco Prado, Principal Researcher in Neuroscience at the Robarts Research Institute. In 2019, she was appointed associate professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at ICB-USP.
Camila Felix de Lima Fernandes, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral fellow
Camila has a bachelor degree in Biological Sciences from the Universidade Federal da Bahia (2017), with a sandwich degree at the University of Glasgow (Scotland, UK) in Molecular and Cellular Biology (2014-2015). She joined the Graduate Program in Systems Biology (ICB-USP) in 2018, currently pursuing a PhD at LNCT, under Professor Marilene H. Lopes. Her PhD project focuses on investigating the function of the Stress Inducible Protein 1 (STI1), partner of the cellular prion protein, on pluripotency and self-renewal of pluripotent stem cells and on the initial development of mammals.
Rodrigo Nunes Alves, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral fellow
Holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy and Biochemistry from the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at USP (FCF-USP) and a PhD in Sciences (2025) from the ICB-USP. Currently works as a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Stem Cells, with scolarship financed by INCT Model-3D/CNPq, investigating the role of the cellular prion protein and its influence on the processing and trafficking of CD44 in the context of glioblastoma stem cells.
Maria Clara da Silva Souza
PhD candidate
Graduated in Biological Sciences from the Institute of Biosciences of USP (IB-USP) with both a bachelor’s (2021) and a teaching degree (2024). She is currently PhD candidate at the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Stem Cell of ICB-USP, in collaboration with the A. C. Camargo Cancer Center, with a scolarship by FAPESP. She completed a research internship abroad (2024–2025) at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine at the University of California, San Diego (USA). Her research focuses on glioblastoma, using preclinical models to investigate therapy-resistant tumor subtypes and to explore potential therapeutic strategies. She has extensive experience in cell culture of complex models, such as patient-derived cells, organoids, tumoroids, and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), as well as experience with CRISPR gene editing and conducting both in vitro and in vivo assays.
Samuel Ribeiro Soares
PhD candidate
Has a bachelor degree in Biomedical Sciences (2022) by the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of ICB-USP and is currently a PhD candidate in the System’s Biology Graduate Program of the same institute. His project, with scholarship financed by FAPESP, focuses on comprehending the impacts of STIP1 modulation in early development via the WNT signaling pathway, using mouse embryonic stem cells as a model.
Martha Liliana Medina Solano
PhD student
Biologist with a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering. She has research experience in neurobiology and neuroscience, using in vitro and in vivo approaches to study Parkinson’s disease (PD). She is currently a Ph.D. student in the Systems Biology Graduate Program (ICB–USP), and conducts her research at the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Stem Cells, with a scolarship from FAPESP. Her doctoral project focuses on identifying microRNAs isolated from extracellular vesicles of dopaminergic neurons as potential biomarkers for the treatment of PD. Dopaminergic neurons will be obtained through dopaminergic differentiation of a neuroblastoma cell line and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), using experimental PD models in both 2D and 3D (brain organoids) approaches.
Isabella de Sousa Nóbrega
PhD student
Holds a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, and obtained a Master’s degree in Health Sciences – Molecular Medicine from the Albert Einstein Institute for Education and Research (2025), with a focus on gene editing, the complement system, and neurodevelopmental disorders. She joined the Graduate Program in Systems Biology (ICB-USP) in 2025 and is currently a Ph.D. student at the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Stem Cells. Her doctoral project focuses on investigating the interaction between the cellular prion protein and its ligands in the modulation of primary cilia dynamics in 2D and 3D models of glioblastoma.
Lucas Prestes Helzel
Undergrad research student
Undergraduate student in Biomedical Sciences at USP, engaged since 2023 as a Scientific Initiation student in the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Stem Cells. Conducts research, with scolarship financed by FAPESP, on the role of the STIP1 protein in regulating pluripotency and proteostasis in human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), using 2D and 3D culture models to investigate how this protein influences cellular behavior and the maintenance of the pluripotent state.
Bianca Ferreira Arruda
Undergrad research student
Holds a Technical diploma in Biotechnology (ETECAP), and is currently perceiving her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences (ICB-USP). She is a current member of the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Stem Cells as a undergrad research student, with a scolarship financed by FAPESP. Her project aims to understand the role of the co-chaperone STIP1 in the proteostasis network of mouse embryonic stem cells.
Bianca Castineiras Lopes
Undergrad research student
Undergraduate student in Biomedical Sciences (ICB-USP). Currently is a undergrad research student in the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Stem Cells. Her project aims to investigate how the crosstalk between neural precursor cells and glioblastoma stem cells influences cell proliferation and differentiation.
Gabriela Patricio Rufino
Undergrad research student
Undergraduate student since 2024, doing her degree in Biological Sciences at the Federal University of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP). She joined the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Stem Cells in 2025 as a undergrad research student, and is currently developing a project focused on the better understanding of the STIP1’s role in the biology of mouse embryonic stem cells.
Bárbara P. Coelho, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Fellow
Rebeca P. Iglesia, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Fellow
Mariana Brandão Prado, Ph.D.
Ph.D. candidate
Jenny Andrea Arévalo Romero
Ph.D. candidate
Maria Isabel Melo-Escobar
Master’s student
Cainã Max Couto da Silva
Master’s student