Felipe Almeida de Pinho Ribeiro

Felipe Ribeiro studies the neuroimmune basis of diseases. He received his bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences (Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Brazil) in 2012 after describing the role of endothelins in depression under the supervision of Dr. Waldiceu Verri Jr. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2016 (Universidade Estadual de Londrina) also under the supervision of Dr. Verri Jr after describing the role of superoxide anion in the sensitization of nociceptor sensory neurons by activation of the transcription factor NF-kB in the peripheral tissue and the spinal cord (central sensitization). Dr. Ribeiro completed his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Isaac Chiu (Harvard Medical School), where he studied how bacteria interact with sensory neurons to modulate pain and immunity at barrier tissues such as the skin and the meninges. These works uncovered how some bacterial pathogens can target the sensory nervous system to trigger immunosuppressive neural reflexes and promote pathogenesis. In 2022, Dr. Ribeiro joined the Washington University School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Medicine to establish his independent research program in neuroimmunology. A major focus of his lab includes the neural control of immunity, an emerging paradigm in human physiology that holds enormous potential to transform our understanding of several human conditions associated with sensory dysfunction.