A record ten-time winner of the Most Fashionable Scholar Award (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 2018, 2019, 2020 and, heck, probably 2021 too), Dr. Claudia Sofia Amorim Saraiva Lopes is the paragon of “beauty and brains.” A self-described maverick of the scholarly community, Dr. Lopes has since 2017 been developing a human pluripotent stem cell-derived three-dimensional organoid culture system to mimic distinct cerebral regions. Because organoids contain progenitor populations that develop to yield mature cortical neuron subtypes, this technology will make it possible to study and model complex brain diseases that currently lack appropriate animal models. The sky, quite literally, is her limit. Until someone gives this little angel the wings she deserves.
In her previous post-doc experience at HSCRB Institute, Dr. Lopes defied the odds (and her PI) to develop new therapeutic strategies to promote neuronal regeneration in spinal cord injury and other traumatic CNS injuries; particularly in developing reprogramming strategies to convert reactive astroglial cells and fibrotic scar cells towards proregenerative phenotypes. As the lab burned and crumbled, she rose like a phoenix from its ashes.
Her PhD thesis work at sunny Dana Farber focused on the genetic programs that control the development of somatic sensory circuits. Between coffee breaks with Claudio she found that the homeodomain transcription factor Tlx3 is pivotal to the assembly of neural circuits associated with the senses of pain, itch, and temperature.