University of Birmingham Brazil Institute: Affiliated Staff

Professor Atina Ktajewska

Professor of Law, Birmingham Fellow and Head of Research, Birmingham Law School

• Brazil Research Key Words
  Global health law, Reproductive Justice, Indigenous People, Women's Health, Women's Rights, Health Rights

• Collaboration in Brazil: 
  "I have been a Visiting Professor at a number of universities across Brazil, and have hosted scholars from these institutions interested in health law, reproductive rights, feminist legal studies, and the sociology of law at the University of Birmingham.
  
  I have strong research interests in the sociology of health law, global health law, and health rights in Brazil. I am particularly interested in sexual and reproductive rights, and I am currently working with colleagues from the University of Pernambuco on an AHRC project entitled "Building Reproductive Justice with Indigenous Women in the North-East of Brazil". The project aims to work with Indigenous women from the Pankararu and Xukuru peoples to consolidate reproductive justice by improving access to sexual and reproductive healthcare in a manner that respects their worldviews and cultural practices."

Professor Chris Thornhill

Professor of Law, Birmingham Law School

• Brazil Research Key Words
  Constitutional law, militarism, Democracy, State Formation                     
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My research focus in on constitutional law and transitions after military rule. I have held several visiting professor roles in Brazil, including at Unisinos (Porto Alegre), Mackenzie University (São Paulo), Federal Universities in Pernambuco and Santa Catarina and the University of Brasilia. I am a Policy Advisor to the Office of Attorney General, and have edited a book series on comparative constitutional law that has been translated into Portuguese with other translations of my work forthcoming. I have also been an active interviewee for press and television in Brazil.

Dr Courtney J Campbell

Associate Professor in Latin America History, School of History and Cultures; Co-Director of UBBI

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Latin American history, regionalism, national identity, gender, micro history, motherhood
  

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "Having formerly lived, studied, and worked in Recife (Northeastern Brazil), I teach, research, and write on Brazilian history, particularly on the social and cultural history of the 19th and 20th centuries. My writing has focused on regionalism, race, gender, international events, abolition, national identity, social movements, and foreign presence in Brazil. My book “Region Out of Place: The Brazilian Northeast and the World (1924-1968)” was published in 2022. I am now turning to a study of mothering and other-mothering in exile in the mid-twentieth century."

Dr Emanuelle Santos

Senior Lecturer in Modern Languages, Department of Modern Languages

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Humanities, language, cultural studies, international collaboration, Global North-South relations 
  

• Collaboration in Brazil
  “I work in Modern Languages with research on the field of cultural studies, looking at the ways in which unevenness and resistance shape society.
  
  My engagement with Brazil happens via my work in Portuguese Studies, where I frequently host BR-funded PhD students for a 6-months stay. I also have research collaborations with colleagues at USP, UNICAMP, UECE (Ceará) and UNESP.”

Professor Marilyn Martin-Jones

Emeritus Professor, School of Education

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Language policy, academic literacy practices (on and offline), language education
  

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  " I have been engaged in organising research collaboration with colleagues in different universities in Brazil since the early 1990s. I am currently editing a special issue of the Brazilian Journal of Applied Linguistics in English on "The changing language and literacy landscape of Brazilian universities: English in policy development and in practice".

Dr Angelo Martins Junior
Assistant Professor in Sociology, School of Social Policy

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Sociology, migration, marginalised groups, Brazilians abroad, Modern Slavery, precarious work
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "I have carried out extensive research on how differences of ‘race’, class and gender, rooted in colonial histories, are constantly being re-created in the everyday making of inequalities faced by marginalised and criminalised populations (i.e. migrants, informal workers, and sex workers) experiencing various forms of inequality, exploitation and violence in Brazil, Europe and Western Africa. This also includes research on Brazilians living in the U.K., and on Africans living in Brazil."

Dr Jayne Cathcart
Research Fellow, MNEDEVELOP project

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Multinationals, disadvantaged communities, Sustainable Development Goals, emerging markets, multi-stakeholder perspectives
  

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  “The MNEDEVELOP research project examines how Multinationals (MNEs) from advanced markets can strategically contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The project explores their innovative approaches in creatively serving disadvantaged, impoverished, and marginalised communities in Brazil and Colombia.”

Dr Marco Vieira
Associate Professor in International Relations, School of Government

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  International relations, foreign policy, multilateralism, regional integration/politics, diplomacy, geopolitics
  

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "I am an international relations scholar with an interest in the foreign policy of emerging states. Brazil has been the central focus of my academic research, having published extensively on Brazil's international role in a number of areas of global politics, such as climate policy; Brazil's involvement in political coalitions, such as the IBSA Dialogue Forum and the BRICS partnership; the domestic process of foreign policy formulation in Brazil; and its role as a regional leader in South America."

Dr Nicola Smith
Associate Professor in Political Science, School of Government

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Social reproduction, labour, sexuality, race, coloniality
  

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  “My research focuses on hidden histories of capitalism and draws on feminist political economy and queer theory to interrogate a wide variety of themes including divisions between paid and unpaid work. I am currently working with Professor Renata Raynaldo from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) on our new project about the intersectional division of labour in Brazil and Britain, with a specific focus on marriage and social reproduction.”

Professor Richard Batley
Emeritus Professor of Development Administration, School of Government

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Political sociology of public service management
  

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  “My research interests are in government, service delivery, public accounting, non-state service provision, public-private partnership, regulation, urban policy, and aid management.
  
  In 1975/76 I held a visiting fellowship at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo. This led to my PhD on Incorporation and Exclusion in Brazilian Development in 1979. Since then, I have undertaken a wide range of research on Brazilian urban development, decentralization, public service management and public finance.
  
  Over the last 7 years, I have worked with Professor André Carlos de Aquino, Professor of Public Sector Accounting & Governance at the University of São Paulo and Visiting Fellow at the University of Birmingham. We have published work on institutional resistance to public financial reform in Brazil in the journal Accounting, Organizations and Society. "

Dr Daniel Wintersberger
Lecturer in Human Resource Management, Birmingham Business School

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Human resources management, Industry 4.0, industrial and public policy, employment relations, workforce skills, political economy
  

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "I am working with Professors Jorge Muniz and Fernando Martins (Department of Production Engineering / Public Policy, UNESP) on FAPESP and CAPES-funded research on the implications of digital transformation at workplace and societal level. Our research compares insights from the automotive sector in the UK, Brazil, Sweden and Germany."

Professor Livia Menezes
Assistant Professor in Economics, Birmingham Business School

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Crime, education, health, and labour market
  

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "I am an applied microeconomist and my research focuses on public policy analysis related to crime, education, health, and labour. My research uses Brazilian administrative data to gain insights into crime, including its determinants, costs, and effective interventions for prevention. I am also working on a large-scale project aimed at understanding the cost of disease in Brazil, with a particular focus on the costs of dengue fever."

Professor Andrew Bagshaw

Professor of Imaging Neuroscience, School of Psychology

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Brain imaging, epilepsy, sleep, MR physics, neurodevelopment

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My main interest is in developing and applying non-invasive neuroimaging methods to questions in clinical and behavioural neuroscience. I have done previous research collaborations with UNICAMP in the area of brain imaging with a particular focus on epilepsy and sleep."

Dr Carmel Mevorach

Associate Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience and International Lead, School of Psychology

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Cognitive neuroscience, autism, neurodiversity, academic skills, attention intervention, brain imaging

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "I have long standing collaboration with colleagues at Mackenzie University in São Paulo in the field of neurodevelopmental conditions (especially Autism and ADHD). The work involves both basic and translational research on ‘developing attention in autistic children’ (which is currently one of the long list of impact case studies in the School of Psychology).
  
  I have been a visiting professor at Mackenzie (supported by CAPES PRINT funding) and we have also hosted 3 visiting PhD students here at Birmingham which has helped to expand my initial collaboration to other members of staff and has led to joint publications. We are also in the process of establishing a new collaboration with colleagues in UNICAMP in the field of Brain Imaging in neurodevelopmental disorders as well as epilepsy."

Dr Sophie Sowden-Carvalho

Assistant Professor in Psychology, School of Psychology

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Social cognition; relationships; adolescence; neurodiversity
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  “I am an experimental psychologist and director of the U21 Autism Research Network. I am interested in social cognition across the lifespan as well as in a range of clinical conditions including autism, conduct disorder and Parkinson’s Disease, and I take a cross-cultural approach to my research. I have collaborated with the INPA - National Institute of Amazonian Research (Manaus) and Fluminense Federal University on projects related to social cognitive functioning and development from adolescents through to adults.

Professor Peter Kraftl

Chair in Human Geography, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Human geography, children and young people, education, environment, cities, health and wellbeing

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My research is based on children’s geographies, focusing on children and young people’s experiences of and interactions with environmental processes – such as sustainable urban design, environmental resources and pollution.
  
  I have been working with Brazilian colleagues (at UNESP and USP) for a decade, with a series of funded projects, visits, hosting Brazil Visiting Fellows, publications and events taking place across this time period. As a previous Director of Global Engagement for the college of Life and Environmental Sciences, I was the Brazil lead for the Sustainable Cities theme and led a strategy for the College's Brazil engagement.”

Dr Susanne Boerner

Assistant Professor in Human Geography, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Human geography, youth, climate change adaptation, urban wellbeing, planetary health, disaster risk

• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "I was a postdoctoral Marie Curie Global Fellow at USP-UOB from 2019-2023, in which I explored how young people in Brazil can live better and develop long-term (emotional) resilience in contexts of resource scarcity and disaster risk. I am now Assistant Professor in Human Geography with a focus on Brazil.
  
  I hosted a UoB-Brazil workshop with funding from the Birmingham Global Engagement Fund in 2022, and hosted a visiting postdoctoral Fellow from USP in summer 2023. I am currently hosting a CAPES-funded sandwich PhD student from USP."

Dr Adriane Esquivel Muelbert

Lecturer in Global Forest Ecology and Co-Director of UBBI, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Climate Change, Forests, Ecology, Resilience, Amazonia
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My work investigates how forests respond to different global change forces and what the implications of these responses are on biodiversity and global biogeochemical cycles. I am in the leadership team of large networks of researchers trying to answer this question at the biome level, and I am involved with local projects trying to understand processes and mechanisms that underpin this overall question. I focus on the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest in Brazil."

Dr Tom Dunkley Jones

Birmingham Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Climate, oceans, geology, ecology, marine
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "Broadly, my interests are climate change and ocean sciences. I am a micropalaeontologist and paleoceanographer specializing in the study of fossil coccolithophore algae. I am the lead proponent and co-chief scientist for the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 388 - Pernambuco Plateau which seeks to answer first-order questions about the tectonic, climatic, and biotic evolution of the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway (EAG)."

Professor Vincent Gauci

Birmingham Professorial Fellow, School of Geography and Environmental Sciences

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Forests, ecosystems, methane, greenhouse gases, floodplains
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  “My work in Brazil has focused on the role of trees in the exchange of greenhouse gases, particularly trees on the floodplain and also on drier Terra firme soils. Examples of work that I have led include a 2017 paper in Nature and a 2022 paper in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Both focused on processes in the Amazon forest with more papers in the pipeline. I have conducted projects in the central Amazon and in the Pantanal and I have visited the new AmazonFACE facility where I am a participant in a recent Brazilian proposal.”

Professor Juliano Sarmento Cabral

Associate Professor for Biodiversity Modelling and Environmental Change, School of Biosciences

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Biodiversity, ecology, evolution, forest, conservation
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  “I am interested in biodiversity, biogeography, ecology and evolution, including the influence of human drivers on biodiversity change. I have multiple connections with Brazil, including ongoing projects and collaborations on cytogenetics and eco-evolutionary dynamics of orchids (UFABC, UFPB), island biogeography (Unicamp), road ecology (UFRGS), epiphyte ecology and distribution (Unifal), butterfly distribution (UFAM).”

Dr Florian Busch

Lecturer, School of Biosciences

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Plant physiology, C4 photosynthesis
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "I am a theoretical and experimental plant physiologist interested in all aspects of photosynthesis. My focus is on linking different photosynthetic processes with mathematical models to study the biochemical limitations of carbon fixation and to gain a quantitative understanding of how plant carbon uptake responds to changes in the environment.
  
  In 2023, I hosted a sabbatical visitor, Professor Milton Lima Neto, from Brazil in my lab to exchange expertise and establish collaborations, and I am keen to promote engagement with Brazilian scientists.”

Zachary Chu

PhD Student, School of Biosciences

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Biodiversity, conservation, tropical forests, epiphytes
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  “My research focuses on how communities of epiphytes (plants growing on other plants e.g. orchids and bromeliads on trees) vary with environmental change, such as across latitudes, elevations, vertical height, land-use, and climate change. In my PhD, I will be researching biodiversity conservation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, at RPPN Alto da Figueira in Rio de Janeiro State.”

Professor Richard Butler

Professor of Palaeobiology, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Evolution, fossils, Mesozoic, archosaurs, palaeontology
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "I am a vertebrate palaeontologist with expertise in the systematics, evolution and biogeography of late Palaeozoic to Mesozoic reptiles. My research addresses major patterns and drivers of biodiversity change through deep time, particularly as exemplified by four-limbed vertebrates (tetrapods), over the last 375 million years. I have previously hosted two Brazil visiting fellows, a long-term research visitor, a visiting PhD student and a UoB-CAPES PhD student, and I have co-authored over 10 papers with Brazilian researchers."

Professor Joan Duda

Professor of Sport and Exercise Psychology, School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Motivation, sport, physical activity promotion, wellbeing
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My area of research is on understanding and optimising motivational processes in sport, physical activity, education and other settings, particularly in the case of young people. Based on long-standing work and theoretical development, primary emphasis is on delivering and evaluating our intervention training programme which aims to help coaches, teachers, parents and the young people themselves to create more empowering motivational environments.
  
  My team and I have conducted research and published papers with colleagues from the USJT in São Paulo and have provided training to enable out collaborators to deliver Empowering Coaching in Brazil."

Dr Chris Wagstaff

Senior Lecturer Programme Director, MSc in Nursing School of Nursing and Midwifery

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Mental health nursing, psychoactive substance use, risk, violence, vulnerable populations, social determinants of health
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "I am a clinical nurse specialist in mental health and now work as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. Since late 2017, I have been engaging with the Ribeirão Preto College of Nursing within the University of São Paulo, predominantly with Professor Sandra Pillon.
  
  Our area of mutual research is the development of quantitative-qualitative research on the Use of Psychoactive Substances, Risk, and Violence in Vulnerable Populations.
  
  Together, we have published eleven papers in peer-reviewed journals, two book chapters and eight international conference papers. We have had two successful research grant applications, (1) a 2021 Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) grant investigating the consequences of COVID for Brazilian healthcare professionals and (2) a 2023 CNPq grant investigating suicide amongst Brazilian high school students.”

Dr Joht Singh Chandan

Clinical Associate Professor in Public Health, Institute of Applied Health Research

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Public Health, violence against women and children, epidemiology
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My primary research focuses on identifying and addressing health inequalities, supported through novel data science approaches, and my expertise lies in population health data science, data linkage and medical education.
  
  From July 2024, I will lead a NIHR global research group which asks: How can we develop and adopt best practices in preventing violence against women (VAW)/violence against children (VAC) in diverse, low-resourced settings? The aim of this project is to work across South Africa, Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Sri Lanka to co-produce research (with survivors of VAW/C) using a trauma-informed framework which will help us understand the effects of violence across different contexts, provide recommendations to prevent violence and build local research capacity."

Professor Davide Calebiro

Professor of Molecular Endocrinology, Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Multidisciplinary research, biomedicine, drug discovery, facility sharing, structural biology
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "I am an endocrinologist and receptor pharmacologist based in the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research. I lead a multidisciplinary research team comprising biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers and computer scientists focusing on the basic mechanisms of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signalling and their alterations in endocrine and metabolic diseases. I have a series of engagement activities with Brazil in my current research, and also in my role as Co-Director of COMPARE (Centre for Membrane Proteins and Receptors), which has a strategic partnership with CNPEM."

Professor Rachel Jordan

Professor of Epidemiology and Primary Care, Institute of Applied Health

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Epidemiology, primary care, COPD, respiratory diseases, diagnosis, management
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My research focuses on respiratory research, mainly the early diagnosis, management and prognosis of COPD in the primary care setting. I am Co-Chief Investigator and Director of BreatheWell, an NIHR-funded Global Health Research Group on COPD in Primary Care which included partners in São Paulo, and I have just received a £3m Global Health Group grant from the NIHR to extend this research within Brazil and also to Peru and Argentina."

Dr Amanda Veiga Sardeli

Research Fellow, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing

• Brazil Research Key Words
  Exercise immunology and ageing, specific cohorts, quality, efficiency, human resources
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My research aims to clarify how long-life physical activity improves immunity in older adults as well as how to blunt acute exercise immunosuppression.
  
  I have three research projects ongoing in Brazilian Universities (with two visiting faculty coming to the University of Birmingham this year). All three are in the field of Exercise Immunology and Ageing and our partners in Brazil collect data of specific cohorts that I analyse here in Birmingham.
  
  The cohorts are: athletes that maintain exercise under symptoms of infection (1-UNICAMP), spinal cord injury athletes as a human model of absent adrenal gland innervation (2-UNICAMP), and older athletes samples (3-UNESP). Besides the research projects, due to my expertise (in exercise immunology and systematic reviews and meta-analysis) and history of collaboration with some professors from my time at UNICAMP, I regularly collaborate as co-supervisor of UG, MSc and PhD students and as a visiting lecturer in Brazil.

Dr Sovan Sarkar

Birmingham Fellow, Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Human health, longevity, neurodegeneration, autophagy, mitochondria
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My laboratory studies the biological process of autophagy, which is an intracellular degradation pathway essential for cellular survival. I aim to develop a pipeline originating from basic biology to drug discovery, and potentially translate the findings for biomedical applications.
  
  With institutions in Brazil, I have established research collaborations and scientific engagements on human health, participated in hosting students, postdoc and faculty, and generated UK-Brazil joint publications and grant income that has led to further UK funding."

Professor Joao Pedro Magalhaes

Professor of Molecular Biogerontology, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Molecular biogerontology, genomics, ageing, longevity, machine learning, bioinformatics
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "Ageing has a profound impact on human society and modern medicine, yet it remains a major puzzle of biology. The goal of my work is to help understand the genetic, cellular, and molecular mechanisms of ageing. In the long term, I would like my work to help ameliorate age-related diseases and preserve health.
  
  I have done several collaborations with colleagues in Brazil, as well as hosting students and postdocs from institutions such as the Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, the Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de São Paulo, and the Instituto de Computacao, Universidade Federal Fluminense.”

Dr Gowsihan Poologasundarampillai

Senior Lecturer, School of Dentistry; Birmingham Fellow in Biomaterials and Bioimaging

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Dentistry, biomaterials, in vitro models, drug discovery, 3D bioprinting, bioimaging
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My research activity is focused on biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. I am currently collaborating with Dr Felipe Daltoe and other researchers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil on two projects. The first project's aim is to develop biomaterials for bone regeneration and the second focuses on in vitro models of osteoradionecrosis."

Professor Jonathan Radcliffe

Reader in Energy Systems and Policy, School of Chemical Engineering

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Energy, decarbonisation, innovation, policy, electricity
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My research area is energy and decarbonisation, including technologies and policies. In the past, I've had a Prosperity Fund project to deliver a seminar series to the energy regulator in Brazil, and I was an external reviewer for their funding call on energy storage. I've hosted a PhD student from UFMG, and been involved in a number of joint workshops and visits.
  
  In previous years I have worked with the Brazilian energy regulator and UK government on decarbonisation in Brazil, focusing on energy storage, and been part of visits and workshops on this topic."

Professor Xiao-Ping Zhang

Chair in Electrical Power Systems, School of Engineering

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Energy engineering, 100% renewable energy systems, climate change; Whole energy system modelling, High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC); Control of renewable energy (wind, wave, solar); Market operations of energy systems
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "I have been conducting active research in the fields of Energy Union, Global Power & Energy Internet, Super Power Grids, Smart Grids, modelling and control of FACTS and HVDC, renewable generation (wind and wave) control, integration of EVs into power grids, energy markets & game theory applications, smart metering, distributed energy management and services for homes and buildings and wide area grid awareness.
  
  In 2017, I was sponsored by the UK Embassy in Brazil to speak about 'Energy Storage and Smart Grid' at the Energy Storage Seminar for the Energy Regulation - ANEEL of Brazil."

Dr Soroosh Sharifi

Lecturer in Water Engineering, School of Engineering

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Water Engineering, sustainability, resilience, clean water, global development
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My area of research focuses on water engineering, specifically working with Brazilian partners to develop sustainable approaches for coagulation and flocculation in water treatment processes. I have hosted two Brazilian Fellows, with one of them returning for a six-month visit funded by FAPESP.
  
  My work has been recognized through a successful Newton Researchers LINK grant, leading to the organization of an online workshop. Additionally, we have secured unilateral funding from CAPES and FAPESP. This collaboration has been productive, resulting in four published papers and one currently in the pipeline. Looking forward, I am aiming to apply for larger grant opportunities, such as the FAPESP-EPSRC."

Dr Marcelo Blumenfeld

Assistant Professor in Future Transport Systems, School of Engineering

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Mobility, transport, railways, sustainable development
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  “As an Assistant Professor in Future Transport Systems, I work on research and capacity building projects that look at the introduction of new technologies in transport systems to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially in the Global South.
  
  I work extensively with the Ministry of Transport in Brazil and undertake research activities and academic production with colleagues at the University of São Paulo (USP) and the Inter-American Development Bank."

Professor Hanshan Dong

Professor of Surface Engineering and Leader of Surface Engineering Research Group, School of Metallurgy and Materials

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Surface engineering, tribology, corrosion, energy materials, surface characterisation
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  “I am a leading surface engineering expert in developing novel surface engineering technologies and characterisation of surface engineered materials and I have collaborated with Brazilian researchers in the area of surface engineering for joint research projects and international conferences. “

Dr Bahman Ghiassi

Associate Professor, School of Engineering

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Sustainable infrastructure materials, climate change, bio-based materials, cementitious composites, resilience, climate-induced hazards
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  “My main research interests include innovative and old construction materials including masonry, cementitious and non-cementitious composites and innovative repair materials. My research focuses on experimental testing and computational modelling of the mechanics, durability and resilience of structures and infrastructure made of those materials, and I collaborate with several universities in Brazil including FASEP, PUC-Rio, UNB, and UERJ on these topics.”

Dr Adam Michalchuk

Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry, School of Chemistry

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Sustainable energy/materials/processes, synchrotron science, mechanochemistry, Density functional theory (DFT), high pressure
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My research focus is the mechanochemical reactivity of solids, with a particular focus on the development of synchrotron methods, ab initio simulation and high pressure. I actively collaborate with colleagues from the University of São Paulo (USP) in this area and we held a joint workshop in São Paulo with LNLS (Sirius) on advanced applications of synchrotron radiation in March 2023. Another workshop is currently being planned for 2024."

Dr Ruchi Gupta

Associate Professor of Biosensors and Global Engagement Lead, School of Chemistry

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Biosensors, microfluidics, hydrogels, biomarkers, disease
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  "My research focuses on the study of analytical tools and techniques, and spans from fundamental science and engineering to translational activities. My research is divided into three themes: (1) optical bio/chemical sensors, (2) sample preparation, and (3) fluid manipulation and my engagement in Brazil has been working on the detection of disease biomarkers with my academic collaborators."

Professor Michael Bryant

Professor of Tribology and Corrosion Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering

• Brazil Research Key Words:
  Biomedical Engineering, Biomaterials, Tribology, Corrosion and Materials Characterisation
  
  
• Collaboration in Brazil:
  “My research focuses on multi-scale aspects of tribology, materials characterisation (engineering and natural materials) and mechano-chemical interactions of materials interfaces used particularly for, but not limited to, biomedical applications, and I am currently developing research and teaching activities devoted to modern aspects of corrosion, tribology, surface science and applied biomechanics. I work with the Universidade do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) on these projects.”