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A Swedish researcher based in England spent a year at InCor-USP in the field of sleep and circadian rhythms

Carreiras_Dr Malcolm von Scha_May 2015-5391University of Surrey“São Paulo is in a position of leadership in Brazilian science. I believe that in less than five years, São Paulo can become a world leader in the field of academic research.” Swedish biologist Malcom Schantz, 48, left Brazil with this impression in April 2015, after having spent a year on sabbatical as visiting investigator at the Heart Institute (InCor) at Hospital das Clínicas of the University of São Paulo School of Medicine (FM-USP). A professor of molecular biology, genetics and neuroscience at the University of Surrey in England, Schantz has dedicated his work to the study of sleep and circadian rhythms (the 24-hour biological cycle), its molecular determinants and how they influence human health. He graduated from the University of Lund in Sweden with a degree in biology and chemistry. He did his PhD work there over a period of three and a half years that included a stint at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). When he returned to Europe, he did post-doctoral work at Imperial College in London. He completed his studies in 1997 and the University of Surrey hired him that same year.

He has a long-standing relationship with Brazil. He visited the country for the first time in 1995 to attend the annual conference of the Brazilian Sleep Society, held in the city of Curitiba. Shortly thereafter, he began an academic collaboration arrangement with Professor Mario Pedrazolli, who today is at the USP School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, which also focuses on the field of sleep studies. At that time, Schantz served as vice president in the international area of the university’s School of Health and Medical Sciences. “During the four years I was vice president, I visited USP many times.”

During the year he spent in Brazil, Schantz took part in a study performed as a group with researchers from USP and the University of Surrey with residents of Baependi, a mining town with a population of 18,000.

This municipality is unique in that the people cultivate sleep habits that are similar to those of the pre-industrial era. They go to bed early and wake up as soon as the sun rises. Because of this habit, the residents of Baependi have become the focus of research that seeks to understand the modern sleep routine.

“This study may be one of a kind in the world. With long-term funding from FAPESP, the researchers in our group are able to monitor the daily routines of the residents of Baependi,” Schantz says. Once he returns to England, he intends to come back to São Paulo frequently. “I received a grant from Science Without Borders under the Special Visiting Researcher grant mechanism, which includes a one-month stay in Brazil for three years in a row,” he explains. “This way, I will have an opportunity to meet with my colleagues from Brazil who have dedicated themselves to scientific work with an extraordinary degree of satisfaction and enthusiasm.”

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