October 2024 – Caroline Cristina Pinto Souza (Brazil)

1. Tell us about yourself.

I am Caroline Souza, originally from São Paulo, Brazil. I am 26 years old and nowadays I live in Botucatu-SP, where I graduated in Biomedical Sciences, obtained my Master’s degree in Biotechnology and am currently pursuing my PhD studies in the same area at the Institute of Biosciences (IBB/UNESP). Since 2018, I have been receiving and sharing knowledge about preeclampsia – a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure; damage to target organs (brain, kidney and liver); perinatal complications and presents a high rate of maternal/fetal morbidity and mortality worldwide.

2. What are your research interests?

I have been studying preeclampsia for over six years. Since my Scientific Initiation, I have been supervised by Professor Dr. Valeria Cristina Sandrim from the Department of Biophysics and Pharmacology (IBB/UNESP). Our research group (@thesandrimlab) delves into the following aspects of this hypertensive syndrome: endothelial dysfunction, investigation of the nitric oxide pathway, oxidative stress, search for potential biomarkers, pharmacological targets, pharmacogenetics and proteomics, which are my main interests. The latter was introduced to me by Professor Dr. Lucilene Delazari dos Santos (@lucilenebio) from the Institute of Biotechnology (IBTEC/UNESP), who is also my co-advisor for my Doctorate.

3. What are you working on right now?

I am currently developing my PhD Research Project in the Postgraduate Program in Biotechnology (PPG-BTE) whose title is: “Proteomics and therapeutic responsiveness of preeclampsia: identification of biomarkers and pharmacological targets”. Although preeclampsia is a global health problem, few treatment options are available and pregnant women who do not respond to antihypertensive therapy develop the worst clinical outcomes. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms by which endothelial dysfunction (imbalance between vasoconstrictor and vasodilator substances in the endothelium) is promoted in this disorder, through the proteomic strategy, helps in indicating more effective interventions. I receive financial support from FAPESP (nº 2022/07605-4).

4. What do you hope to achieve in the field of hypertension over the next 5 years?

This is a very challenging issue. I intend to deepen my knowledge about preeclampsia, mainly through internships in other laboratories. I am very interested in doing a Postdoctoral Fellowship abroad and thus, acquire greater networking and scientific visibility through International Collaborations. Therefore, I intend to dedicate myself to keep presenting papers at Congresses (01); developing educational and recreational material (interactive games, podcasts and videos for scientific dissemination) (2); publishing more articles in high-impact journals (3). I also admit that becoming a Text Editor/Proofreader (4) and University Professor (5) are other brilliant goals.

5. What challenges have you faced in your career to date?

Well, I assume that when writing an original paper, discussing our main findings remains both difficult (creating a narrative that explains convergent and divergent data from our research group based on the scientific literature) (01) and important (since we are spreading insights and presenting pioneering work). Another challenge I face is to improve my CV (2), to make it more professionally attractive, since the job market is becoming highly competitive. In addition, I want to do a Sandwich PhD (3) to exchange experiences with other researchers.

6. Which of your publications are you proudest of and why (please include paper reference)

I am very proud of my recently published PhD paper (01): Different Proteomic Profiles Regarding Antihypertensive Therapy in Preeclampsia Pregnant (https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25168738), of which I am the first author (02). This study represents a pioneering contribution by demonstrating the differential protein profile in plasma of preeclampsia patients in the context of responsiveness to antihypertensive therapy (3). Our work can be a basis for subsequent investigations (4). Furthermore, our findings are related to the abstract I submitted to the 30th Congress of the International Society of Hypertension (at Colombia) for which I was awarded a Presenter Grant (5).

7. What is your favourite manuscript from a lab other than your own?

I admire the following article: “Quantitative proteomics-based analyses performed in preeclampsia samples from 2004 to 2020: a systematic review” (doi: 10.1186/s12014-021- 09313-1), written by a group of researchers (Rosana Navajas, Fernando Corrales and Alberto Paradela) from the Functional Proteomics Facility, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB CSIC), ProteoRed-ISCIII, Madrid, Spain. The authors have insightfully demonstrated the differentially expressed proteins in preeclampsia studies (highlighting the down and upregulated ones) in divergent sources of biological material. This manuscript was useful for my Doctoral studies, maturing my ideas.

8. What are your passions outside of work?

I like to play classical instruments (Violin and Viola), as I am a Musician in the Municipal Youth Orchestra of Botucatu (1), I am a Writer and have several texts classified and finalists in Internal Literary Competitions (chronicles, scripts and short stories); National and International (poems) (2). In addition, since graduation I have practiced athletics (middle- and long-distance modalities) (3) and have won many awards. I value cultural diversity and study English and French (4). I love family gatherings (5)!