RESEARCH AREAS
Toxicology covers all the aspects related to the investigation into the adverse effects of chemicals and can be considered a basic and applied science. For this reason, the Postgraduate Program in Toxicology includes three major areas: Experimental Toxicology, Clinical Toxicology, and Toxicological Analysis. Research lines in these three major areas allow incorporation of the different specialties that make up the many faces of Toxicology, as well as rising innovations in the area.
1. EXPERIMENTAL TOXICOLOGY. Researchers in Experimental Toxicology conduct studies to elucidate mechanisms and to evaluate the effects of toxic chemicals.
2. CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY. Researchers in Clinical Toxicology address the prevention and diagnosis of human poisoning by airborne, waterborne, and foodborne contaminants or by chemical substances used as medicines.
3.TOXICOLOGICAL ANALYSIS. Toxicological Analysis covers therapeutic monitoring, biological monitoring, doping control, drug addiction control, and non-biological analyses of samples obtained from air, food, water, and soil, among others.
Specific topics include:
– Environmental neurotoxins, redox state in neurological diseases, mitochondrial dysfunction;
– Neurotoxicology, neuroprotection strategies;
– Biochemical toxicology and mechanisms of toxicity;
– Environmental genotoxicity;
– Metabolism of natural products;
– Characterization of animal toxins;
– Toxicology of metals;
– Gene/environment interactions;
– Evaluation of antigenotoxic and antimutagenic activities of bioactive compounds present in the diet;
– Nutrigenomics;
– Interactions between food nutrients and drugs;
– Pharmacokinetics of chiral drugs;
– Clinical aspects of drug toxicology;
– Method development for analysis of illicit drugs;
– Method development for analysis of metals in biological specimens and speciation analysis;
– Biomonitoring studies;
– Pharmaceutical analysis (metabolites and new biomarkers);
– Toxicoproteomics;
– Evaluation of toxic metals in food samples.
FACILITIES
To contribute to the analytical capacity of its professors, FCFRP-USP has five Facilities that grant the researchers of the Postgraduate Program in Toxicology access to Multiuser (shared) equipment. Additionally, highly complex high-cost equipment and advanced methods of investigation are available to our professors and postgraduate students. Multiuser facilities promote greater interaction among researchers and increase productivity.
Our Multiuser facilities include:
1) Organic Micromolecule Mass Spectrometry Central Facility (Central de Espectrometria de Massas de Micromoléculas Orgânicas – CEMMO);
2) Center of Excellence for Lipid Quantification and Identification (Centro de Excelência de Quantificação e Identificação de Lipídeos – CEQIL);
3) High-Resolution Imaging and Cell Studies Central Facility (Central de Imagens de Alta Resolução e Estudos Celulares – LIAREC);
4) Nucleic Acid Sequencing Laboratory;
5) Industrial Pharmacotechnique Laboratory (Laboratório de Farmacotécnica Industrial – LAFAI).