Welcome to the Department of Biochemistry at the Institute of Chemistry of the University of São Paulo!
Our mission includes excellence in scientific research and in education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and effective communication with society.
Our faculty members work on a variety of topics related to Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Among specific research topics we can list Cell Signaling, Gene Expression, Molecular Microbiology, Structural Biology, Metabolism, Enzymology, Neuroscience, Biological Membranes, Bioinformatics, Genomics, Transcriptomics, Proteomics, Computational Biochemistry, and Biochemistry Education. We aim to contribute to the understanding of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and obesity, as well as neglected tropical diseases.
The Department hosts several centers of excellence in research, including the following: the Center for Redox Processes in Biomedicine (CEPID Redoxoma), a multidisciplinary network of researchers investigating redox processes in biological systems, funded by FAPESP; the Center for Bacteria and Bacteriophages Biology ( CEPID B3 ), also funded by FAPESP; the National Institute of Science and Technology in Purinergic Signaling; and the National Institute of Science and Technology in Quantitative and Precision Methodologies in Redox Biomedicine, both funded by CNPq.
The Department currently has 40 faculty members. Professors from the Department routinely receive significant national and international scientific recognition awards (see our scientific highlights page). The Department receives graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and visiting scholars from various countries, contributing to a multinational and multicultural atmosphere in its hallways and laboratories, thereby enriching its teaching and research activities.
The Graduate Program in Biochemistry, with about 150 students and consistently ranked among the best in the country, offers advanced education and training to prepare students for an independent career in research and teaching. Faculty members of the department also contribute actively to the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Bioinformatics, headquartered at the Institute of Chemistry. The Department also has a strong postdoctoral program, currently involving about 50 young scientists from all regions of Brazil and abroad.
Together with the Department of Fundamental Chemistry, the Department of Biochemistry offers a bachelors degree in Chemistry. In this course, students have the opportunity to specialize in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, taking advanced disciplines in enzymology, structural biology, gene expression, biological signal transduction, bioinformatics, and redox processes. During this specialization students also have the opportunity to undertake internships in our research laboratories.
We invite you to visit the other pages of this website to learn more about the Department of Biochemistry and discover the opportunities we offer to join us as an undergraduate research trainee, graduate student, postdoctoral scholar, faculty member, or collaborator. If you have any questions or wish more information, please write to depqbq@iq.usp.br.
