Biomedicine graduate is approved in a doctoral program at Florida State University

- How did your relationship with Biomedicine come about?
I always wanted to work with basic research, but at the time I was taking the entrance exam, in my understanding, the course that would offer me this opportunity would be Medicine. So, I spent a year and a half doing a pre-university course, I traveled to several states in Brazil, taking entrance exams at various universities in an attempt to enter a medical school and be able to do research. After a year and a half of trying, my mother, who had already been doing a lot of research and realized that I had no vocation for medicine, told me about biomedicine: “Biomedicine brings you full preparation for the ultimate goal you want, which is to follow a scientific career.” My mother was my great supporter in this process, she gave me a lot of strength to study more and become interested in this course. Bahiana and, in the experience, I had the opportunity to know more about the course, laboratories, I was able to talk a lot with the professors, I was fascinated, I passed the entrance exam and, thus, I entered the Biomedicine course.

- How was your experience in the Bahiana? Knowing from the beginning that you would like to work with research, how did you prepare for this purpose?
I always thought ahead, that when I graduated I would have a competitive market, so, for that, I thought I would need to have some advantage, a differential, in my professional training, which were, precisely, extracurricular activities. Because, in the Biomedicine course, all professionals will have practically the same subjects over four years, with similar hours, etc., but what will differ among the graduates are precisely the extracurricular activities they did throughout their graduation, therefore, since the first semester I gave a lot of importance to it. In the first semester, I started in the academic league of sickle cell disease (LADF) when I also started an internship at the GACC – Support Group for Children with Cancer, at the Serology and Immunogenetics Laboratory. Then, I moved to the Paternity Laboratory, where I learned molecular biology techniques, DNA extraction, pre-PCR processing, etc. With this opportunity, I learned important tools that would help me a lot in the future. So, close to completing this internship, I started looking for new activities and started attending Fiocruz, where I participated in scientific sessions and two selection processes for scientific initiation in which I was not approved, but I continued to persevere and I was approved in the laboratory's selection process of research from Bahiana, NBBio – Biotechnology and Bioprospection Nucleus, under the coordination of Professor Geraldo Ferraro. In this project, we research obesity-related genetic polymorphisms. Based on our results, we wrote a systematic review with the help of Professor Caroline Feitosa, which was published in the journal of Bahiana "Brazilian Journal of Medicine and Human Health". This article, too, became my course conclusion work (TCC) and with it we won the Dr. Geraldo Leite Award for the best presentation at the Biomedicine Symposium. At the end of graduation, I remember that always in congresses and symposiums, at Bahiana, the Technological Innovation Center (NIT) and the importance that innovation had in scientific training was disclosed. With that, I started to arouse interest in technological innovation and, today, with the support of the NIT, I have been developing a product for which a patent application is being submitted and a software for the management, storage and communication of scientific information.

- Tell us about your journey to your doctorate at Florida State University.
After taking my scientific initiation, it became clear to me that this was my vocation and that it was the path I would like to follow.  I learned from my father to dream big, persist in my dream and maintain a good network of contacts, that's when, instead of a graduation party, I preferred - and he was able to provide me - a trip to an English-speaking country, to be able to improve the language and at the same time seek an internship in a biomedical research laboratory. Thus, my father suggested I send e-mails to some researchers in the United States, Canada and Ireland, whose line of research interested me, proposing to do a voluntary internship.  Among them, the researcher at the State University of Florida (FSU), Dr. Wu-min Deng, with his line of study on the genetics of cancer, was the one that most caught my attention because of his publications and the importance of seeking understand the genetic mechanisms involved in the development of cancer. After we talked a lot by e-mail, he gave me the opportunity to do an internship in his laboratory, that's when I decided on the United States as my destination. Initially, I spent two months at my aunt's house, who helped me a lot in improving my English, and then I went to Dr. Wu-min in Tallahassee, capital of Florida. Making this internship a fascinating experience, I was able to develop my own research project in support of the main laboratory projects, I learned new techniques, participated in classes and presented my TCC to the laboratory members. As soon as I returned to Brazil, Dr. Wu-min Deng continued to encourage me to enroll in the selection process for the doctoral program of the Department of Biological Sciences, which is a very competitive process, in which there are students from various countries in search of this opportunity and consists of several stages of analysis, including three letters of recommendation written by teachers, which describe the potential of the student identified by them, and it is also necessary to send a letter of intent, written by the candidate himself , indicating why he is seeking approval in this program and what he can add, as well as submitting his transcript, curriculum, calculating the average of his college grades, converted into an American grade standard, which is called GPA ( Grade Point Average), which ranges from 0 to 4, so I find it necessary to cultivate good grades in college, as a good overall grade in college is very important n this process, as they evaluate the candidate's entire background. In addition to these requirements, one must obtain satisfactory marks on two tests, a general knowledge test called the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) and an English proficiency test called the TOEFL. Thereafter, the Department of Biological Sciences Admissions committee will review applicants and make a decision on who will be accepted, followed by a review by local faculty and the university's admissions office. Once accepted, the department will send a letter called “Letter of Offer” clarifying financial aid such as scholarships, tuition waivers, work proposal, etc.

In my case, I was offered a subsidy to cover the full college tuition fees, a scholarship, and a 20-hour weekly job offer as a research assistant and teaching assistant, the remuneration of which will defray my personal expenses.

The research group I'm going to participate in works in the field of cancer genetics research, an area in which I've always been fascinated. Classes start on January 8th, but I plan to go earlier, around January 1st, to get used to the city and organize my new home. Generally, people going to study at FSU rent rooms in one- to four-bedroom apartments that can be shared with other students, which is good for making new friends and not being alone. Registration for these properties can be done online on the companies' website. I am 24 years old and the duration of the doctorate is six years. At first, I think about living there, but there is still a long way to go to make a real decision, but most professionals there are well qualified and have one or two postdoctoral fellows, each, on average, with two or three years of study, to be able to increase the number of publications and get better job offers, in colleges, laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, etc. 

- Bahiana did you have any influence on your new path?
Yes, the experience here at Bahiana, contributed a lot to discover my vocation. In addition, the Biomedicine course offered me theoretical and practical knowledge that helped me a lot when attending classes and developing experiments in the FSU laboratory. I emphasize again in relation to, mainly, extracurricular activities. THE Bahiana offers us a wide range of extracurricular activities, which brings a big difference to the curriculum and even on an international level. When I was there to do this internship, I was able to talk with coordinators, with students and I was able to talk a little about the extracurricular activities I developed here, about the issue, including having published an article as first author, software development, patent search , academic league etc. and all this diversity and support that the Bahiana has offered, it was certainly a differential that attracted attention there, in a positive way, for being something beyond the curriculum. I was very well received and had a lot of support from all the structures of the Bahiana in general, especially professors Geraldo Ferraro and Caroline Feitosa who taught me a lot about the process of scientific research, as well as the NIT, with the support of the coordinator Fernanda Ferraz and the dean Atson Fernandes who helped me transform ideas into reality.