Léo Ramos e Eduardo Cesar
Ruth Nussenzweig and Vanderlei Bagnato: members of the National Academy of SciencesLéo Ramos e Eduardo CesarOn April 30, physicist Vanderlei Salvador Bagnato, a professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), and physician Ruth Nussenzweig, a professor at New York University, became members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in the United States. Nussensweig is the first female Brazilian scientist to be elected by the NAS in the 150-year history of the renowned institution. Including Max Birnstiel, born in Brazil and now a Swiss citizen, there are currently 13 Brazilian scientists in the NAS. A professor in the Parasitology Department of the School of Medicine at New York University, Ruth has worked with her husband and fellow researcher, Victor Nussenzweig, since they studied together at the USP School of Medicine. Recognized worldwide for her pioneering research on malaria, the researcher began her career developing an experimental model to study immunity against the parasite that causes the disease. In work published in the 1960s, Ruth Nussenzweig immunized mice with irradiated sporozoites that were unable to multiply, and then infected the same animals with normal sporozoites, showing that the animals did not develop malaria. A full professor at the USP São Carlos Institute of Physics (IFSC), and coordinator of the Center for Research in Optics and Photonics (CePOF), a FAPESP Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center (RIDC), Vanderlei Bagnato had already been elected to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican in September 2012.
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