Dr. Glaucia Souza holds a degree from the Biosciences Institute of University of São Paulo (1988), PhD in Biochemistry at the Institute of Chemistry (1993), post-doctorate in molecular genetics at La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation (1994) and post-doctorate in molecular genetics at Baylor College of Medicine (1996).
She is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Chemistry and leader of the Signal Transduction Laboratory. Dr. Glaucia Souza is coordinator of several initiatives in sugarcane genomics. In 2000 she joined a group of 200 researchers to sequence and annotate ESTs from sugarcane (SUCEST Project) as part of FAPESP's Genome Program.
In 2003 she became coordinator of the project and started the SUCEST-FUN initiative (http://sucest-fun.org ) composed of a network of researchers dedicated to the functional analysis of the sugarcane genes and identification of genes associated with traits of agronomic interest.
The activities of her group focus on the Transcriptome analysis, generation of transgenic plants and studies related to the investigation of regulatory and signaling networks. Genes associated with sucrose content, biomass, tolerance to drought, phosphate deficiency, herbivory, interactions with endophytic bacteria, climate change, sugars and hormones have been identified.
Since 2003 she carries out research in collaboration with the private sector to change the energy metabolism of sugar cane and its potential to produce biofuels. In 2007 the initiative SUCEST-FUN progressed to the formation of a research network linked to sugarcane breeding programs in the country. The group aims to use biotechnology tools to increase the sucrose content, change the quality and quantity of fiber, develop drought tolerant plants, identify molecular markers and promoters. Dr. Souza is developing the SUCEST-FUN database and bioinformatics tools for the integration of agronomic and molecular data for sugarcane and energy cane.
Dr. Souza coordinates the FAPESP Bioenergy Research Program BIOEN (http://bioenfapesp.org). BIOEN aims at articulating public and private R&D, in academic and industrial laboratories, to advance and apply knowledge in fields related to bioenergy. Research ranges from biomass production and processing to biofuel technologies, biorefineries and sustainability.
Dr. Souza is the Chairperson of the SCOPE Bioenergy & Sustainability project. Under the leadership of researchers associated to the FAPESP Bioenergy Research Program (BIOEN-FAPESP) in collaboration with colleagues from several countries, she led a global scientific evaluation on Bioenergy & Sustainability under the aegis of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE – www.scopeenvironment.org). They used the SCOPE RAP (Rapid Assessment Project) concept, and the final workshop was held at UNESCO premises in Paris, in December 2013 to discuss bioenergy in the context of Energy Security, Food Security, Environmental Security, Climate Security, Sustainable Development and Innovation. Over 100 top-level scientists from 81 institutions in 24 countries were involved in the process (http://bioenfapesp.org/scopebioenergy/index.php) resulting in a 700-page synthesis of knowledge volume and a policy brief describing current status, latest developments on bioenergy production and use and policy recommendations for the sustainable expansion of bioenergy in the world. The project involves contributions from 137 experts from 24 countries.
She is an Eisenhower Fellow since 2009. She supervises students under the Graduate Program in Biochemistry, the Bioinformatics Program, the International USP Postgraduate Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology (Plant Biology) and the USP-UNICAMP-UNESP Integrated Bioenergy PhD Program.
http://bioenfapesp.org
http://bioenfapesp.org/scopebioenergy/index.php
http://glauciasouza.com