2026 Spotlight on Brazil: Faculty Flash Talks & Community Networking

Guilherme Duarte is currently an Assistant Professor of Government in the Department of Government at Harvard University. He holds a Ph.D. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (2025). His primary research interests include causal inference and machine learning. Guilherme has developed general algorithms for partial identification and also investigated issues related to sensitivity analysis, transportability, factorial experiments, and causal inference automation. In the past, he has worked in journalism and data science.

Lucas A. Meirelles is Principal Investigator at the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology (CCIB) at Massachusetts General Hospital, where his lab studies host-pathogen co-adaptation dynamics in chronic lung infections. His research uses engineered human microtissues and organoids, combined with advanced live imaging, high-throughput omics, and controlled physiological experiments, to understand how bacteria grow, survive, and interact with lung cells, driving disease progression. His lab is exploring genes essential for bacterial pathogens to grow and resist antibiotics in the airway, as well as how the presence of these pathogens affects epithelial regeneration upon tissue damage. Lucas is also a Member of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and is affiliated with the Broad Institute through the Center for Integrated Solutions for Infectious Diseases (CISID).

Originally from Brazil, Lucas began his scientific journey studying social insects and their microbial parasites at São Paulo State University and the University of Texas at Austin. He earned his PhD at Caltech with Dianne Newman, uncovering how redox-active bacterial metabolites shape the physiology and drug tolerance of opportunistic lung pathogens. His postdoctoral work was conducted under the supervision of Alex Persat at EPFL in Switzerland, where he studied adaptations of the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the airway mucosa.

Dr. Magda Feres is an internationally recognized scholar in periodontology and currently serves as chair of the Department of Oral Medicine, Infection, and Immunity (OMII) at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM). She earned a Doctor of Medical Sciences in Oral Biology from HSDM, where she also conducted research at The Forsyth Institute. She holds a DDS from Gama Filho University and a Master of Science in Periodontology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Before joining Harvard, Feres was the dean for dental research and graduate education and chair of the Advanced Graduate Program in Dentistry at Guarulhos University in Brazil.

Her research focuses on periodontal microbiology and novel treatments for periodontitis and peri-implantitis. Feres’s team pioneered innovative treatment protocols for severe periodontitis, and her recent work explores the use of artificial intelligence in personalized periodontal care.

She has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers with more than 18,000 citations and has received research funding from prestigious institutions, including FAPESP, NIH, and Harvard Medical School. Since 2020, she has ranked among Stanford University’s top 2 percent most-cited scientists globally.

In addition to her research, Feres has held leadership roles in various organizations, including serving as past president of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) Periodontal Research Group and the International Association of Periodontology (IAP). She has mentored over 90 students, with a strong focus on supporting female researchers. In 2018, she received the IADR Award for Distinguished Female Mentor, recognizing her impactful contributions to advancing the careers of women in research and academic leadership. She also co-founded the Latin American Oral Health Association (LAOHA), a philanthropic organization dedicated to supporting doctoral students in Latin America.

Marcia Castro is Andelot Professor of Demography, chair of the Department of Global Health and Population, director of the Brazil Studies Program of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) at Harvard University, associate faculty of the Harvard University Center for the Environment, and faculty member of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.

Her research focuses on the development and use of multidisciplinary approaches to identify the determinants of infectious disease transmission in different ecological settings to inform control policies. She has more than 20 years of research experience in the Brazilian Amazon, with a strong record in conducting household surveys and thorough knowledge of the local culture. Furthermore, she has more than 15 years of collaboration with Brazilian researchers, health secretariats, and the ministry of health, particularly related to infectious diseases. Currently, Castro has projects on malaria, COVID-19, arboviruses, infant/child mortality and development, and climate change in the Brazilian Amazon. Specifically, she has been assessing the spatiotemporal pattern of COVID-19 spread in Brazil, mortality and fertility changes due to the pandemic, risk factors for mortality, and vaccine effectiveness.

During recent public health emergencies, such as the Zika virus epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic, Castro made important contributions. At the World Health Organization, she served as co-chair of the Technical Consultation on The Burden of and Response to Malaria in Urban Areas in 2021 and as an advisor of the Evidence Review Group on border malaria in 2017. She serves on several advisory boards in Brazil, including the Institute for the Studies of Health Policies (IEPS), the Science Center for Early Childhood (NCPI), Instituto Todos Pela Saúde (ITpS), and Instituto Cactus. She is a columnist for Folha de São Paulo and an elected member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.