Interviews with Scientists: Rangel Leal Silva
Rangel Leal Silva is a CAPES-Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the Agarwal Lab, Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Heidelberg University, Germany. He is using various techniques to study how astrocytes may regulate neuronal function in chronic pain conditions. He was commended by our panel of judges in the Lab Heroes Awards 2020 after receiving 12 nominations from current and former colleagues who praised his professionalism, his creativity, and his willingness to share his knowledge with others.
Rangel completed his B.S. in Pharmacy at the State University of Feira de Santana, and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Pharmacology at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. During his M.Sc. he identified the molecular mechanism of an anti-inflammatory compound derived from a plant used by Amazonian inhabitants (Fitoterapia, 2014; Journal of Natural Products, 2015). He worked on several projects involving inflammation, including the development and characterization of a new drug targeting PI3K signaling in the lung to treat asthma and fibrosis, and describing an uncovered mechanism induced by fungi particle-mediating metabolic changes in immune cells. He also worked in potential treatments for acute and chronic pain (Neurobiology of Disease, 2017; European Journal of Pain, 2021), and immune system regulation by adrenergic and cholinergic receptors (Inflammation, 2016), and cannabidiol-derived drugs (Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 2019).
We loved speaking to Rangel about his research, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on his work, his love of chess and his childhood dreams of playing professional football in Brazil!
Thanks for speaking with us, Rangel! Firstly, please do tell us a bit more about your current research...
I am focused on understanding the role of astrocytic calcium transients in the regulation of pathological pain. For that, we are combining techniques such as chemogenetics, optogenetics, calcium sensors, and 2-photon microscopy to comprehend how astrocytes may regulate neuronal function in chronic pain conditions and try to find ways to modulate it.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your research?
During the lab lockdown in March and April 2020, we followed a rotation-based schedule to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on our research. I had some data to analyze which fortunately I could do from home. The main impact of COVID-19 on my research was related to delays in deliveries of reagents.
Did you always want to be a scientist when you were younger?
No. Like many other young Brazilians I wanted to be a soccer player for my favourite team, Flamengo. But later on, I started to love science, probably because I enjoy thinking about possible explanations for the phenomes, i.e. making and testing the hypothesis, with the possibility to someday find a way to treat disease and help many people to have a better quality of life.
What advice would you give those at the beginning of their science career?
A science career requires organisation, impartiality, hard work, critical reading, and mainly resilience. You will not get a great salary for that! But if you still want to be a scientist then you are definitely in the right place!
What's the most important lesson you have learned in your career so far?
That resilience, organisation, and criticism are the pivotal features to have a successful career in science.
What are you most proud of in your science career to date?
When a got a CAPES-Humboldt postdoctoral fellowship. I had only six days to prepare the whole application!
What do you think are the biggest difficulties currently facing life scientists and their work?
Decoding how the brain processes information.
What does a typical working day look like for you?
My working day is long, typically 12 hours, which I spend doing experiments, reading, writing, or helping my colleagues in their research. I plan the experiments for the next two weeks in advance and try my best to have them done according to the schedule.
Outside of your research and any related work, what do you enjoy doing most?
Hanging out with my girlfriend, analysing stocks, playing chess and billiards.
If you weren’t a scientist, what do you think you’d be doing now?
I would probably be a businessman.
What is it about your field of research that motivates you the most?
Glial cells correspond to half of the brain’s cells, yet neuroscience has focused only on neurons for so long. By only looking at the neuronal circuits, we will not be able to fully understand how the brain processes information and generate the outputs from that. Astrocytes are one of the poorly explored pieces of the puzzle that are necessary to understand the complexity of brain function. I believe we still have many astonishing discoveries ahead of us regarding glia functions. We need to analyse the brain as a complex network instead of isolated cells communicating with each other, such as in chess, where the movement of one piece may cause an impact on how many other pieces should adequately move.
Which scientists working today do you most admire, and why?
There are specific features that I admire in many different people. Some of the scientists I have had the pleasure work with have great characteristics, such as: the didacticism and ability to inspire of Manoelito Coelho Santos Junior (UEFS-Brazil); the student management and energy to chase improvements in the research level of Thiago Mattar Cunha (USP-Brazil); the research focus and writing skills of Emilio Hirsh (UNITO-Italy); and the pursuit for accuracy and innovation of Amit Agarwal (Heidelberg University-Germany).
What do you think is the greatest scientific discovery of all time?
The biological evolution by Charles Darwin.
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Thank you so much for speaking with us, Rangel! We wish you all the best with your continued research.
You can connect with Rangel via the social media channels below:
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