Gabriela Venturini was recognized because of her research on the biomarkers of atherosclerosis and won a trip to Germany
By Nicole Dariolli
The 5th BRMASS conference took place in Campinas (SP) between December 7 to 11, 2013. The conference was convened by the Brazilian Society of Mass Spectrometry and gathered 705 attendants and more than 250 research posters were presented. In addition, the participants could take short courses and lectures with renowned experts in mass spectrometry world. The company Thermo Scientific, developer of the most popular machine for protein nalysis called Orbitrap, was present at the Conference and awarded the best work using Thermo’s technology. The winner was the biologist and PhD student at Laboratory of Genetics and Molecular Cardiology, Gabriela Venturini. The awarded work, titled “Proteins biomarkers of Shear stress (SS) intensity: role of blood flow in atherosclerosis development”, aimed to explore how the intensity of stress caused by blood flow in the blood vessel cells is associated with the atherosclerosis development, which is related with cardiovascular diseases and even heart attack. In the research, a specific analysis based on change in proteins according to the deviations in stress intensity was performed in partnership with R&D from Fleury Group. “In case I create a high or low intense stress, which proteins will change? How this is associated to the development of the diseases? By monitoring the proteins that change, can we prevent which region of the vessel will develop atherosclerosis, and especially, which region will develop a very complicated lesion leading to heart attack?.” speculated Gabriela Venturini, explaining her research. The project was developed using mass spectrometry technique in order to identify the proteins markers of atherosclerosis developing, with potential use in early diagnostic assay. The work resulted in some biomarkers that are being tested, and Gabriela Venturini was awarded with a trip to visit the factory Thermo, in Bremen, Germany, and meet the inventor of the Orbitrap technology, Dr. Alexander Makarov, one of the most famous names in the field.