Professor Glaucius Oliva, recently appointed as a Birkbeck Fellow, visits the department
On the day of his Fellowship award, Professor Oliva visits the department to talk with past and present research collaborators.
On November 11 2014, Professor Glaucius Oliva, President of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Director of the Science without Borders programme in Brazil, received the Birkbeck Fellowship. These awards recognise individuals who have achieved distinction in their academic field, have given exceptional service, often through philanthropic support, to Birkbeck and who have a close association with Birkbeck.
An alumnus and advocate for global research partnerships
Professor Oliva is an alumnus of the former department of Crystallography and gained his PhD in protein crystallography in 1988. As Director of the Science without Borders programme he has played a major role in encouraging Brazilian students and researchers to see the benefits of global collaboration and in particular Birkbeck’s unique educational environment. Professor Oliva commented:
‘After I came to Birkbeck I encouraged other Brazilian students to come here. I am delighted that Birkbeck is part of the Science without Borders scheme, and I hope that there will be many more Brazilian students at Birkbeck in the future. I also look forward to continuing my association with Birkbeck as a College Fellow.’
After the presentation he visited the Department of Biological Sciences to meet past and present collaborators. On this visit, Professor Oliva spoke with Dr Juliana Sakamoto Yoneda, a postdoctoral fellow in the Wallace Lab, who has been sponsored by the Science without Borders programme, and Professor Bonnie Wallace, herself recently appointed as a Senior Visiting Fellow with the CNPq, in support of her numerous research projects working with Brazilian scientists. This work in structural biology includes the use of new techniques for Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism (SRCD) spectroscopy developed in the Wallace lab, which is being applied with Brazilian collaborators to investigate the molecular basis of neglected tropical diseases associated with parasites infection, in addition to developments relating to food and industrial biotechnology.
Photograph shows Professor Oliva meeting Dr Juliana Sakamoto Yoneda.
Further information
Find out more about the Science without Borders programme within Biological Sciences.
In 2013, Professor Oliva gave the Birkbeck Bernal Lecture: From structural biology of neglected diseases to Brazilian science.