Featured scientist: Interview with Ana Elisa Ferreira de Oliveira, winner of the Capes Prize for Doctoral Dissertations in the Materials area.

“Science is alive, dynamic, exciting and enriching, and being part of its advancement is a great privilege”, says Ana Elisa Ferreira de Oliveira, winner of the 2023 Capes Prize for Doctoral Dissertation in the area of Materials.

The award distinguished the 49 best doctoral dissertations, one per area of knowledge, defended in Brazilian postgraduate programs in 2022. In addition, 98 honorable mentions were awarded. More than 1,400 works applied for this edition of the Capes Award, whose ceremony was held in Brasília on December 14th.

In her research work, Ana Elisa developed two electrochemical sensors, one made of graphite and the other made of carbon nanotubes, capable of detecting in real time a breast cancer biomarker (the CA 15-3 protein) in biological samples (blood serum and saliva). This protein appears at higher than normal levels in most women with breast cancer after the initial phase of the disease – which is why it can be used to monitor these patients’ response to treatments, as well as to screen for metastasis and detect recurrence of cancer.

The sensors developed in Ana Elisa’s doctorate were produced on paper substrate on which electrodes were printed using conductive inks using simple methods, such as screen printing and handwriting. To detect the CA 15-3 biomarker, the sensors were modified with antibodies to this protein.

The research was carried out under the guidance of Professor Arnaldo César Pereira within the Postgraduate Program in Physics and Chemistry of Materials at the Federal University São João del-Rei (FQMat – UFSJ), in the state of Minas Gerais. However, the work is the result of ten years of scientific training in the area of sensors, from undergraduate research to PhD, always at UFSJ and with the same supervisor.

In this interview for the B-MRS Newsletter, this young scientist, born in Barbacena (interior of Minas Gerais), talks about the sensors and the difficulties and joys of the path she took to complete the best Brazilian Materials dissertation defended in 2022.

B-MRS Newsletter: Tell us a little about your scientific background.

Ana Elisa Ferreira de Oliveira: My academic career began when I entered the Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ) in 2011. I did two “scientific initiations” (undergraduate research) guided by Prof. Dr. Arnaldo, both in the sensor development area. That was the introduction to my career as a researcher. From there, I understood the importance of scientific research and was sure of my desire to continue my studies in postgraduate studies. In 2015, I completed my master’s degree in the Physics and Chemistry of Materials Program at UFSJ, and started my PhD in 2017, in the same program.

When I was writing my doctoral project, I really wanted something in the health area, so I chose the development of sensors to determine biomarkers. But I had to decide what the sensor would determine, which disease. Today breast cancer is the most common type of tumor in women in most parts of the world. Women over 50 are most affected by this type of cancer. Statistically, about one in eight women is diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. Therefore, I decided that in my doctorate I would focus on the application of sensors to determine breast cancer biomarkers.

During my years of research, I published 19 papers in different journals. Between graduation, master’s and doctorate, it was ten years at UFSJ. A decade of lots of study, learning, challenges and personal evolution. I am eternally grateful for the role my university played in my professional journey.

B-MRS Newsletter: What were the biggest challenges you faced in carrying out the award-winning thesis?

Ana Elisa Ferreira de Oliveira: The path during my doctorate was not easy. But, definitely, the main difficulty was the surprise of a global pandemic that at that time had taken the lives of millions around the world. Adapting to a new reality and having the laboratory interrupted for months was challenging. When I finally returned, making up for lost time was extremely tiring. I spent morning, afternoon and night in the laboratory, and often left without results. This was very stressful. However, with a lot of effort and dedication I managed to meet this challenge. And receiving this award just confirms that it was worth it!

The award was a big surprise. I am feeling extremely honored to have my doctoral work recognized by receiving such an important award. It’s an indescribable feeling. I celebrate this victory with everyone who, indirectly or directly, helped me make my dream come true.

B-MRS Newsletter: What are the advantages of the sensors developed in relation to other disease detection techniques?

Ana Elisa Ferreira de Oliveira: Electrochemical sensors have some advantages over conventional techniques: high selectivity and sensitivity, low production cost of the devices, they do not require much maintenance for their use and conservation, the analysis can be done in real time and specialized technicians may not be necessary.

In addition to having a quick response and often without the need for pre-treatment, printed electrodes can be manufactured on a large scale, allowing low-cost production. They are disposable, eliminating the need for cleaning. Consequently, printed sensors are known as low-cost, miniaturized, disposable, and high-sensitivity devices. Printed electrodes can replace the conventional three-electrode system (working, reference, and counter) using conductive inks and a substrate.

B-MRS Newsletter:  You assembled the sensor prototypes. What steps would be necessary for these devices to be used outside the laboratory?

Ana Elisa Ferreira de Oliveira: The results of the work suggest the possibility of using printed electrochemical sensors as an alternative for determining CA 15-3 in biological samples. However, there are many more studies that can and should be carried out on these proposed sensors in order for them to become commercial.

They can be further optimized by trying to increase sensitivity and lower the limit of detection and quantification. Another possibility is the modification of printed sensors to determine other biomarkers, not only for cancer, but for other diseases such as cardiovascular diseases.

Electrochemical sensors can also be designed for point-of-care (POC) analysis due to their fast analytical response, possibility of miniaturization and simple operation. POC testing is usually performed in close proximity to the patient, allowing for instant availability of results to make immediate, informed decisions about patient care.

Therefore, some experimental optimizations could be performed on the proposed sensors to reduce analysis time and allow the use of portable potentiostats. Printed electrochemical sensors have great potential in health monitoring and, fortunately, many works are being generated in the literature involving different materials for these purposes. The results of this dissertation corroborate this idea and present a possibility of developing sensitive devices for CA 15-3.

B-MRS Newsletter: Leave a message for our readers who are doing their undergraduate, master’s or doctoral research.

Ana Elisa Ferreira de Oliveira: There is a sentence attributed to Marie Curie that says “Throughout my life, new discoveries about nature have made me happy like a child”. That’s how I felt throughout my academic career. And that’s how I still feel when reading a good article, when developing a project or when I read about new research. Science is alive, dynamic, exciting and enriching. Being part of the advancement of science, even if only in a very small way, is a great privilege.

B-MRS Newsletter: If you would like to make any other comments, feel free.

Ana Elisa Ferreira de Oliveira: I would like to give special thanks to some people who were by my side during this journey. To my parents, sister and nephews for their constant support and encouragement. To my husband Lucas for being by my side at all times. To Mayra, my faithful laboratory companion, for her help and partnership. To Prof. Dr. Lucas Franco Ferreira for the partnership and collaboration. To my colleagues in the research group (Polymer and Electroanalytical Research Group – GPPE), I would like to thank you for your support, collaboration, companionship, pleasant conversations and moments of joy. And in particular, I would like to thank my advisor Prof. Dr. Arnaldo César Pereira for the opportunity granted. He welcomed me as a student nine years ago, and since then we have gone through undergraduate research, master’s degree and now the dreamed doctorate. Thank you for your guidance, conversations and partnership, for trusting in my work and for your constant encouragement. It is difficult to describe in words your importance in my professional journey.

 

 

The JALCOM Award

The Journal of Alloys and Compounds (JALCOM) from Elsevier in cooperation with the Brazilian Materials Research Society (B-MRS) is pleased to invite researchers from Brazilian institutions to apply for The JALCOM Award.

The Journal of Alloys and Compounds is an international peer-reviewed medium that disseminates original work for the advance of the science of materials comprising compounds and alloys. Its great strength lies in the diversity of disciplines that the journal encompasses, drawing together results from materials science, physical metallurgy, solid-state chemistry, and condensed matter physics.

 

Awards

Achievement JALCOM Award. This JALCOM Award will be given to an Advanced Career Researcher (Researcher or Professor) who received his/her Ph.D. for at least 10 years.

Rising Star JALCOM Award. Two Rising Star JALCOM Awards will be given to Early Career Researchers who received their Ph.D. degree within the last 10 years.

For both awards, we will consider researchers who have contributed to the following fields that JALCOM covers:

  • Energy conversion and storage
  • Hydrogen production and storage materials
  • Solar photocatalysis applications
  • High entropy alloys
  • Batteries and battery materials
  • Metastable materials
  • Magnetocaloric materials
  • Sensors

 

How to apply

To apply for the Awards, interested researchers must submit the following documents, in English:

  1. A letter of up to 2 pages highlighting the main contributions to one or more fields of interest listed above.
  2. Submissions must also include a brief CV containing information considered important for the awards.
  3. Equity criteria: To promote equality between men and women in academic activities, we highly encourage female scientists to apply for the awards, and detailed information on each advent of offspring must be included in the proposal submission, in a separate document, called “Equity Document”.

Participants should send the documents to jalcomawards@sbpmat.org.br.

Deadline: the deadline for the nomination is August 15th, 2023.

 

Prizes

1) Advanced Career Researchers: An award certificate, and a cash prize of US$1,000.00.

2) Early Career Researchers:   An award certificate, and a cash prize of US$500.00 for each award.

 

Winners

A selection committee will be assembled to nominate the awards winners.

The award winners will be announced at the XXI B-MRS meeting closing ceremony. The presence of the winner at the meeting is not mandatory for receiving the prize.

Researchers do not need to have published in JALCOM  to be nominated. However, they may be invited to contribute with a research/perspective/review paper to the journal.

 

If you have any questions, please contact us at jalcomawards@sbpmat.org.br.

 

Postdoc in composite metamaterials for aeronautical application at the Federal Institute of Maranhão.

Professor Edson Miranda Jr. (http://lattes.cnpq.br/9782653543954493) has 1 (one) position open for a postdoctoral position in the area of DYNAMICS
AND VIBRATION OF COMPOSITE METAMATERIALS FOR AERONAUTICAL APPLICATION, in the Department of Mechanical and Materials of the Federal Institute of Maranhão (for the simulation part, it is not necessary to be full-time in São Luís-MA).

The position is to work in a project funded by CNPq, specifically with experiments and modelling of dynamical systems, wave propagation, and passive vibration control applied to aeronautical engines. The researcher will have the opportunity to collaborate with outstanding research groups, mainly, in
Brazil and Italy.

The candidate should have a doctorate degree in Mechanical Engineering or related areas.

Knowledge and experience on finite element modelling, wave propagation, periodic systems, mechanical vibration, composite materials, and signal processing are desired.

Knowledge of MATLAB and good English are mandatory.

Knowledge of COMSOL software, plane wave expansion (PWE) approach, and composite material manufacturing are differentials.

The scholarship is of R$ 4.500,00 (SET-C) from now (april/2023) until 11/17/2025 (the end of the project).

The interested should send the following documents to edson.jansen@ifma.edu. The documents are:

1) A detailed CV with research experience and average graduate degree results.

2) A motivation letter detailing how your research profile and interest relate to the project.

3) A recommendation letter from researcher or professor.

An online interview shall be scheduled after the evaluation of the documents.

Tribute to Aldo F. Craievich from Daniel M. Ugarte.

About Aldo Craievich: homage, reflections and memories.

Prof. Aldo Craievich visiting the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. (Photo from Prof. Daniel Ugarte's personal archive)
Prof. Aldo Craievich visiting the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. (Photo from Prof. Daniel Ugarte’s personal archive)

On April 24, 2023, Prof. Aldo Felix Craievich died in São Paulo, two months after his 84th birthday.

Aldo was born in the province of Santa Fe in Argentina and graduated in physics at the Instituto Balseiro in Bariloche in 1964. He later carried out his doctoral work in France under the supervision of André Guinier, a world famous researcher in the area of X-ray diffraction. In 1973, he moved to Brazil and held positions at several universities and research institutes such as the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of São Carlos (IFQSC-USP), the Brazilian Center for Research in Physics (CBPF) and the Institute of Physics at USP in São Paulo city.

There are abundant sources where it is possible to obtain detailed biographical data on Aldo – without a doubt, one of the most outstanding researchers in materials science in Brazil. But probably, Aldo will always be remembered for his contribution to the construction of the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS) in Campinas, where he worked in the initial gestation of the project and later as Scientific Director during the construction of the first UVX storage ring. Aldo assumed responsibility for the design and construction of beamlines and, above all, the training of users for the future Brazilian source of synchrotron light.

I met Aldo personally when I moved from Switzerland to Brazil in 1993 to join the team at the incipient LNLS. The leadership of the laboratory consisted of three directors: Cylon Gonçalves da Silva, Ricardo Rodrigues and Aldo. A short conversation with them about the project to build a synchrotron with national technology starting from scratch was inspiring. What a progressive and courageous vision! I had the privilege of observing how they associated competence and originality, always looking for creative solutions adapted to the low resources and real possibilities in the Brazilian context. In addition to the material aspects, the project required the construction of a specialized technical-scientific human resources team. It is important that the new generations of professionals visualize and understand the Herculean task that was to develop and build everything, everything. An analogy would be building a skyscraper when you have to learn how to make every brick, every steel bar, every little piece. What a challenge they faced, and what a complete triumvirate! Ricardo, the creativity, engineering and physics of accelerators. Aldo, the application of synchrotron radiation, science and the training of human resources. And Cylon, weaving together different aspects like accelerator science and technology with science policy and organizing a management system for a big science laboratory. Wow, what a trio! I can tell my advisees, students, children and grandchildren, that I worked closely with them during the construction of the LNLS.!! And I didn’t bother much…

Despite his position as Director, Aldo had the humility to try to convince each researcher or student of the great opportunities that LNLS offered. He organized numerous schools in Brazil, Latin America and ICTP-Trieste, where he received students from all areas, physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, medicine, etc. This effort on an international scale is clearly reflected in the various awards he has received in other countries and in Mercosur. Perhaps the greatest recognition received by Aldo was his entry into the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in 2015, at almost 80 years old. On a very personal level, I ask myself every day: why did Aldo have to wait so long? Almost 20 years since the start of operation of the UVX, the first synchrotron in the southern hemisphere. Well… in the end justice was served, better late than never. My biggest sadness is that Aldo’s partner in the project, Ricardo Rodrigues, responsible for the design (accelerator physics) and construction (engineering, electronics, materials, etc.) of the UVX and the new synchrotron, Sirius, left in 2020 without receiving this honor. The history of Latin America shows a social and economic development with many paradoxes, such as, for example, strong urbanization without industrialization. The formation of the scientific and technological community in the country was not exempt from these peculiarities. Therefore, it is important to evolve to give more value to applied works, to the construction of real and operational equipment of small, medium or huge size, to the creation of instrumentation, sometimes advanced and sometimes just practical and cheap solutions. Innovation and industrialization, so sought after and mentioned today, will thank us. As Aldo described well in his words: “there is no division between basic and applied research, the real dichotomy is good or bad quality research”.

For us, in the Argentine community, Aldo was “el cracho”, the nickname by which he has been known since his beginnings in physics and the exact sciences. Cracho is a synonym for energy, positive energy, endless energy, energy that is contagious and makes progress, energy that transmits optimism, energy that motivates, energy that sets an example, energy that moves mountains, energy against winds and seas . The deep knowledge, the long, objective and sincere conversation, the culture, the willingness to help, to encourage people to face challenges, the example of science, humanity and ethics. This is the image I have of Aldo. I was blessed to work closely with him at the beginning of my career as a young independent scientist at LNLS. How much I learned! He was a mentor, a friend, an example, a role model.

Daniel M. Ugarte
Professor
Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics
Unicamp

On the left, in the Ugarte family home, Aldo Craievich with a son of the hosts on his lap, next to Ricardo Rodrigues, Varlei Rodrigues, Daniel Ugarte himself and Gilberto Medeiros. Right, Ugarte and Craievich at The Eagle pub in Cambridge, where James Watson and Francis Crick matured the structure of DNA (the famous double helix) and announced it for the first time. The discovery of the double helix was based on X-ray diffraction images, a technique greatly appreciated by Craievich, who helped to disseminate it in Latin America.
On the left, in the Ugarte family home, Aldo Craievich next to Ricardo Rodrigues, Varlei Rodrigues, Daniel Ugarte himself and Gilberto Medeiros. Right, Ugarte and Craievich at The Eagle pub in Cambridge, where James Watson and Francis Crick matured the structure of DNA and announced it for the first time. The discovery of the double helix was based on X-ray diffraction, a technique greatly appreciated by Craievich, who helped to disseminate it in Latin America.

Aldo Felix Craievich: note of condolences.

It is with deep regret that B-MRS informs the death of its founding member Aldo Felix Craievich, senior professor at USP, which occurred in the early hours of today, April 24, 2023, at the age of 84.

Craievich was a pioneer in glass research in Brazil and one of the protagonists in the history of the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS). In addition, he dedicated himself to training users of synchrotron light, mainly in Latin America.

In 2016, B-MRS distinguished him with the Memorial Lecture “Joaquim da Costa Ribeiro” in recognition of his trajectory.

The Executive Board of B-MRS deeply regrets the departure of this Argentine scientist, who had lived in Brazil since 1973, and would like to remember him as a member who made great contributions to our community.