|
Camila de Avila Dal Bo, PhD |
 |
Brief Bio
Dr. de Avila is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Translational Neurosciences at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. Her research program aims to advance understanding of the brainstem nucleus incertus (NI) and its associated neural circuits, with a particular focus on their role in cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). While NI projections to the septohippocampal system, critical for memory processing, have been well characterized in rodents and primates they remain largely unexplored in the human brain. A central objective of Dr. de Avila's research is to characterize the neuroanatomical and neurochemical properties of the human NI, including potential alterations in AD pathology and sex-specific differences.
Dr. de Avila received her B.Sc. in Biology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas in Brazil, and her M.Sc. in Neurobiology and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Laval University in Canada. Her doctoral work investigated the role of the NI and the relaxin-3 (RLN3) signaling system in stress-related feeding disorders using rodent models. She broadened her research training through collaborative projects at several international institutions, including the University of Melbourne, University of Bordeaux, University of Copenhagen, and Arizona State University. During her postdoctoral training at Mayo Clinic Arizona and Arizona State University/Banner Sun Health Research Institute, she shifted her focus toward the involvement of the NI in neurodegenerative processes, using both animal models and human postmortem brain tissue.
Dr. de Avila welcomes motivated students with wet lab experience to reach out and learn about opportunities to volunteer!