Dr. Isabela Santos Valentim

Postdoctoral Researcher
Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI)
Germany

Isabela Santos Valentim, Dr. rer. nat., is a Postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Jena, Germany. Her research focuses on understanding the importance of sleep/ circadian rhythms on neuronal aging and protein aggregation disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease.

Since 2010, she is involved in research activities related to sleep, sleep deprivation, memory, and protein aggregation mechanisms. After completing her BSc and Teaching degree in Biology (2012) at the State University of Rio de Janeiro and her MSc (2015) also in Biology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, she moved to London (UK) for a visiting scientist internship at the Francis Crick Institute. Later, she moved to Germany where she obtained her doctorate (2022) in Molecular Biology at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany.

Isabela also has a fond interest in science communication and outreach activities. As part of her teaching degree, she developed a series of classes explaining the importance of sleep and sleep hygiene during adolescence, which became an ongoing project of the State University of Rio de Janeiro. She also had an internship at the Roberto Marinho Foundation (Brazil) taking part in the promotion and organization of the Young Scientist Award.

She received prizes, fellowships, and travel grants, e.g., PhD Fellowship Leibniz Graduate School on Aging and CAJAL Advanced Neuroscience Training Programme (FENS, IBRO). Besides doing research, she is an aspiring sailor and loves having her free time at the sea.