Held from July 8 to 11, 2025, during the 39th Annual Meeting of the Federation of Societies of Experimental Biology (FeSBE), the 16th Congress of the Brazilian Society of Nuclear Biosciences (SBBN) brought together specialists from across the country at the Unicamp campus in Campinas (SP). With the theme “Innovations and challenges in nuclear biosciences: Integrating nuclear policy with societal demand”, the congress was chaired by Dr. Fabio Luiz Navarro Marques, chemist, researcher at the University of São Paulo (USP) School of Medicine, and member of CEPID CancerThera.
The event stood out for its multidisciplinary approach and for fostering dialogue between science, industry, and public policies. With the strong presence of researchers and representatives from public and private institutions, the SBBN Congress continues to be, year after year, a strategic space for reflection on the future of nuclear biosciences in Brazil, bringing together education, applied research, and innovation.
Exemplary centers of excellence
The opening lecture, entitled “CNPEM: A multidisciplinary center for strategic challenges”, was delivered by Dr. Antônio José Roque da Silva, professor at the Institute of Physics at USP and general director of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM). In his talk, he presented the institution’s main facilities and the possibilities of absorbing and integrating research in the areas of Particle Physics, Nanoparticles, Molecular Biology, Medicinal Chemistry, and the development of devices for radioisotope production.
Another important contribution to the event was given by Dr. Cornelia Hoehr, nuclear physicist, associate professor at the University of Victoria, and researcher at TRIUMF – a particle accelerator center – both in Canada. She spoke about the research and technological development carried out at these institutions (in the lecture “TRIUMF – A successful history in research and development association between public and private institutions”) and how the Canadian government has been working to make radiopharmaceuticals available throughout the country, which has continental dimensions similar to Brazil (“Canadian program for cyclotron radiopharmaceutical production from east to west coast”).
“The presentations by these researchers showed that institutions committed to good governance, openness to the development of scientific-technological collaborations, and governmental or private support have everything it takes to become centers of excellence to meet the demands of the societies in which they are embedded,” evaluates Marques.
CancerThera’s presence
Pharmacist MSc. Vânia Pereira de Castro Rodrigues (left photo), radiopharmacist at the Nuclear Medicine Service of the Unicamp Clinical Hospital and associate researcher at CancerThera, presented the project of the National Center for Education and Training in Radiopharmacy, focused on the qualified and decentralized training of professionals in this sector in Brazil. “We want to attract professionals from all corners of the country, train them based on best practices and technologies, and make them take this knowledge back to their home institutions,” says Rodrigues. The center aims to fill a historical gap in the training of the radiopharmacy workforce and to make Unicamp a national reference. The importance of training for the preparation and use of new radiopharmaceuticals was emphasized by Dr. João Alberto Osso Junior, chemist, researcher at the National Nuclear Energy Commission, and consultant for the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In his lecture, “Contributions of mathematical and computational modeling to cancer research and its therapies”, Dr. Diego Samuel Rodrigues (right photo), professor at the School of Technology at Unicamp and associate researcher at CancerThera, explained that one of the promises in this field is adaptive therapy, which has proven very useful in cases where conventional treatment applications generally fail due to the emergence of resistant tumor cells, reinforcing the relevance of treatment personalization based on mathematical tools. “In adaptive therapy, the timing of dose administration is established in real time and based on patients’ clinical data, and this has contributed to mitigating or even preventing resistance to oncological treatments,” he emphasizes.
A robust program
A panel coordinated by Fabio Marques highlighted the structural bottlenecks and potentialities of the nuclear area in Brazil. At the table “Technology parks and development programs”, initiatives such as the SUPERA Park (Ribeirão Preto), the Nuclear Physical Security Training Center (Centresf) project, and the unsuccessful attempt to implement a national collaborative radiopharmacy network through the INCT/CNPq call were discussed. “With the project not being selected, I understand that the radiopharmacy field in Brazil is heading toward a critical situation regarding human resources training and the availability of products to meet the medical network’s demand,” warns Marques.
In another panel, “Biomolecules: from discovery to radiopharmaceuticals”, representatives from CNPEM, São Paulo State University, USP, and the pharmaceutical company Bionovis gathered. Discussions included processes for identifying molecular vectors, production scaling, and applications in oncology diagnosis and therapy. Marques stated that it became “evident the installed potential in the state of São Paulo for the development of biopharmaceuticals and bioradiopharmaceuticals.”
Adding thematic diversity to the congress, the table “Neuroscience in autism”, formed by researchers from the Rio de Janeiro State University, highlighted advances in the diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), such as neuromodulation using photobiomodulation and vibratory platforms. For Marques, the content deserves to be revisited in new formats, with “quality scientific dissemination for families and teachers involved with people with ASD.”
A thematic section addressed electrotherapy techniques in tissue repair, with presentations from the Hermínio Ometto Foundation. Promising uses of lasers and electric currents in tissue regeneration and inflammation treatment were presented, opening possibilities for integration with radioisotope-based treatments.
In addition to these panels and sessions, the congress offered three training courses: Translational Molecular Neuroimaging, Nonlinear Analysis of Images and Signals in Biosciences, and Concepts in Biostatistics, reaffirming the educational nature of SBBN.
Research recognition: award and future
The congress also marked the launch of the Prof. Eloy Julius Garcia Award, dedicated to training in radiopharmacy and radiobiology. The winning work, sponsored by R2 Pharma, was “Synthesis and [18F]fluorine radiolabeling of [B(md-1)] complex as a bifunctional compound for PET imaging and proton therapy”, authored by Fabio Marques in collaboration with Dr. Victor Marcelo Deflon and Dr. Pedro Paulo Corbi – both chemists and principal investigators at CancerThera –, Dr. Luiz Antônio Sodré Costa, chemist and professor at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, and students from Unicamp and USP: Gabriela Viana de Souza, Mariana Almeida Figueira, Joaldo Garcia Arruda, and Victor Maia Miranda.
“We hope that in the coming years we can identify the outcomes of the interactions among the various participants of this event, in scientific, technological, and manufacturing development,” projects Marques.
Text: Romulo Santana Osthues | Photos: Researchers’ personal collection
