On October 1, Faculty of Medicine's Professor Dr. Melissa Orzechowski Xavier began her activities as an Abroad Visiting Professor (Junior modality) at the California Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) Mycology Laboratory in San José, USA, with funding provided through FURG's Institutional Internationalization Program (CAPES-PrInt/FURG).

Professor Dr. Melissa Xavier works at the Faculty of Medicine and is a permanent member of the Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences (PPGCS), one of the contemplated programs in the project titled "Prevention and Control of Diseases and Disorders that Affect Human Health and Its Life Quality in Coastal Ecosystems", one of the thematic axes of PrInt/FURG.

At CIMR, Prof. Dr. Melissa Xavier is working in cooperation with Prof. Dr. David Stevens (Stanford University Emeritus Professor and President of the CIMR) and his team, following their clinical routine and participating in projects related to: 1. new compounds with antifungal activity; 2. Biofilm in Aspergillus spp. and inhibitors; 3. intermicrobial interaction between Pseudomonas and Aspergillus; 4. New drug for coccidioidomycosis treatment - experimental study; 5. Aspergillosis in patients from different risk groups; 6. Molecular/phenotypic mechanisms of resistance to azole of clinical isolates of Aspergillus spp. The latter has also been carried out in international collaboration with researcher Dr. Raquel Sabino from the Dr. Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute, in Portugal.

photo 1: Prof. Melissa presenting the activities and research that were developed at FURG to the team of Prof. Dr. David Stevens at the California Institute for Medical Research.

photo 2: Participation in the monthly medical update meeting of San José.

photo 3: Prof. Melissa working at CIMR