Effects of Light Exposure with Sleep Cycles
My current research in physics marks a turning point from the research I led while in high school in Brazil, where I organized research projects in neuroscience at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul to explore the interactions between light and sleep cycles, which I later published in international journals.
As leading researcher, I had the opportunity to present my work at multiple conferences and events, and the priviledge of publish as first author. Although not directly related to physics, these past experiences taught me a lot about performing background research, developing scientific methodologies, data analysis, the importance of ethics in science, and presenting my work.
This work has been presented at: the 2017 Pan American Science Fair, a TEDx talk, the V Colloquium of the Chronobiology and Sleep Lab, 39th Scientific Week of the Clinical Hospital of Porto Alegre, XIV Youth Hall Science Fair at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and the 2017 Pan American Science Fair.
Here is a TEDx Talk that I spoke about my project:
Game addiction and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)
I also idealized and led a project investigating associations between BDNF and addiction to games in adolescents. The project sought to investigate whether BDNF levels in saliva had any association with game addiction, seeking to evaluate whether this disorder affected neuroplasticity in adolescents.
As leading author, I was responsible for performing the background research, organizing data collection, meeting ethics criteria, following biochemical and statistical analyses, and drafting the manuscript.
The project has been presented at: the 34th MOSTRATEC International Science Fair as a finalist, 39th Scientific Week of the Clinical Hospital of Porto Alegre, the 2018 Pan American Science Fair, and the XIV Youth Hall Science Fair at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (awarded Young Researcher Award).
Attached below is a picture of myself with my coworkers:
