Young researcher of the Intercontinental Academia is now a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences

Helder Nakaya, one of the 13 young researchers who took part in the Intercontinental Academia's first edition, has been elected an affiliate member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC). The category was created in 2007 and brings together researchers under the age of 40 for five-year terms. The chosen ones are young people who work in "border areas and have demonstrated a great scientific potential through their work". Nakaya will integrate the São Paulo region group until 2020 along with four other researchers.

Bachelor in biological sciences and holder of a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology, both from USP, Nakaya carried out postdoctoral studies from 2008 to 2011 at Emory University, where he analyzed the mechanism of vaccines activation in cells of the immune system. Upon completion, he became assistant professor of the Department of Pathology at Emory, using systems biology to predict and understand the immune response to different vaccines. Two years later, he was hired as a lecturer of the Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analyses of USP's Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

In 2014, Nakaya was one of the chosen researchers to participate in the first edition of the Intercontinental Academia (ICA). Held from April 19 to 29, 2015, in São Paulo, and from March 6 to 18, 2016, in Nagoya, the ICA is an initiative of the UBIAS (University-Based Institutes for Advanced Study) network, which brings together 36 institutes of advanced studies based on universities from all continents. The first edition had "Time" as its theme and was organized by the IEA-USP and Nagoya University's Institute for Advanced Research. In March 2017, the young researchers will meet again in São Paulo to produce a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), the project's main outcome.