CNPQCNPq President Hernan Chaimovich (left) bestows one of the 2015 Young Scientist AwardsCNPQ
Bárbara Rita Cardoso, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Melbourne in Australia, received a Young Scientist Award in the Master’s and PhD category from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). President Dilma Rousseff presented the award to Cardoso, who defended her doctoral dissertation last year at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of São Paulo (USP). Her study shows that the daily consumption of Brazil nuts can help reduce the risk of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly when they are in the early stages of cognitive loss. “Introducing Brazil nuts to the diet of the elderly may offer a simple strategy for reducing the chances that Alzheimer’s will advance,” said Cardoso. Food and nutritional safety was selected as the topic for the 28th Young Scientist Awards. In the High School category, the winner was Joana Meneguzzo Pasquali of Mutirão de São Marcos High School in São Marcos, Rio Grande do Sul, for her research involving a kit to detect toxic substances in milk. In the Higher Education category, the award went to student Deloan Edberto Mattos Perini of the Federal University of the Southern Border (UFFS), in Rio Grande do Sul; his study explored the potential role of urban agriculture in supplying food in small cities.
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