Honor Society® member
Rafaela Carneiro Cordeiro
Postdoctoral research fellow at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
- University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
- clinical and translational research
- USA
Member since December 2023
About
I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. My research is focused on undestanding bipolar disorder (BD), a severe psychiatric illness with a high heritability rate, often affecting adolescents and young adults. My goal is to identify cellular mechanisms contributing to BD onset in individuals with familial risk for the disease, leading to diagnostic markers and early interventions to improve the quality of life for those affected by BD.
Education
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Universidade Federal do Ceara
•Doctorate in medical microbiology
2016 – 2021
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Universidade Federal do Ceara
•Masters in medical sciences
2012 – 2014
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Universidade Federal do Ceara
•Bachelor in biological sciences
2007 – 2011
Honors and awards
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•1st CINP Research Fellowship for Early Careers:
This hybrid programme offered to selected participantes webinars and in-person sessions during the 34th CINP World Congress of Neuropsychopharmacology, which took place between 7-10 May 2023 in Montreal, Canada.
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•Postdoctoral Travel Awards – UTHealth Houston:
Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) and the Postdoc Association (PDA) offer funding for travel to national and international conferences.
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•Career Development and Research Excellence (CaDRE) Program in Psychiatry:
CaDRE aims to facilitate research training and career development for the junior investigators, trainees, and fellows in the Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
Goals and interests
- Career goal
My goal is to be in a tenured position that allows me to bridge the gap in understanding the etiology and underlying risk factors of psychiatric disorders, particularly bipolar disorder.
- Graduate school interests
With a strong background in neurobiochemistry and cell culture, I am focused on investigating microglia-like cells and biomolecular assays. I am working to have more original report publications, emphasizing the importance of mitochondria and metabolic alterations in bipolar disorder, using cell culture, multiomics and robust statistical analysis for complex data.
- Outside the classroom
Experiencing different cultures and rescuing cats in need
Experience
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Postdoctoral research fellow
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Aug 2022 – Dec 2025
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Assistant professor
Centro Universitario Christus (Fortaleza, Brazil)
Aug 2014 – May 2022
Languages
- English (US) Fluent
- Portuguese (Brasil) Advanced
