About us
The Wendel Alves Research Group at UFABC develops functional biomaterials and bioanalytical platforms by combining supramolecular chemistry, polymers, nanomaterials, and electrochemistry.
Our research investigates how molecular structure, self-assembly, and interfacial organization determine the properties and performance of peptide-based materials, hybrid nanostructures, hydrogels, biointerfaces, and polymeric microdevices.
A major focus of the group is developing electrochemical biosensors and microneedle-based technologies for minimally invasive biomarker detection, controlled delivery, and point-of-care applications.
By integrating advanced materials characterization with molecular design and device engineering, we seek to translate fundamental understanding of supramolecular and interfacial phenomena into new biomaterials, biosensors, and healthcare technologies.
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Group Members
Principal Investigator
Prof. Wendel Andrade Alves, Ph.D.
Full Professor
E-mail: wendel.alves@ufabc.edu.br
Lattes CV – http://lattes.cnpq.br/7275057980870698
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8394-2751
Dr. Wendel Andrade Alves is a Full Professor at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC) and a CNPq Research Productivity Fellow, Level 1B. He holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (1999), and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from the University of São Paulo (2001 and 2005). During his Ph.D., he conducted research at the Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italy, and later completed postdoctoral research in Physical Chemistry at the University of São Paulo, including a research period at the Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel, France. He was also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Missouri, Columbia, USA, in 2014 and again from 2023 to 2024.
His research lies at the interface of supramolecular chemistry, biomaterials, bioanalytical chemistry, functional nanomaterials, and molecular devices, with particular emphasis on peptide and biopolymer self-assembly, biointerfaces, electrochemical biosensors, polymeric microneedles, and functional nanocomposites.
He currently coordinates the FAPESP–NWO Thematic Project “Point-of-Care Technologies Based on Microneedles to Improve Healthcare Testing and Treatments”, focused on polymeric microneedles for biosensing and controlled delivery. He is also a researcher in the CEPID Center for Molecular Engineering of Advanced Materials (CEMol) and in the National Institute of Science and Technology in Bioanalytics – Lauro Kubota (INCTBio-LK).
From 2021 to 2025, he participated in the Horizon 2020 PEPSA-MATE international network, dedicated to sustainable functional materials based on peptides and polysaccharides.
He has supervised 16 M.Sc. dissertations and 26 Ph.D. theses and has authored more than 130 publications in international peer-reviewed journals. He is also inventor on four patent applications, two of which have been licensed to industry.
He served as Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Nanosciences and Advanced Materials (PPG-NMA/UFABC) from 2022 to 2024 and currently serves a new term as Coordinator for 2026–2028.
Post Docs
Graduate Students
Alexandre Lartelli
Fabíola L. de Castro
Ana Carola De La Via
Ana Alice Zaneli
Priscila Sabbag Ferreira
Monica T. Santos Lavorenti
Rafael Otoni
Miguel Ángel Quintero Martínez
Undergraduate Students
Alumni
Graduate Students
Laís Rossetto Ferraz de Barros PhD 2025
Freddy Alejandro Nuñez Esteves PhD 2025 – Postdoctoral Fellow, Universidade de Sao Paulo
Eduardo Ruben do Nascimento PhD 2024 – Postdoctoral Fellow, Braskem, Brazil
Marcos Roberto de Araújo Silva Phd 2024 – Laboratory professional at UFABC
Juliana Piraja PhD 2024
Amanda Eliane Sabaine MS 2024 – Staff at AkzoNobel, Brazil
Jose Eduardo Ulloa Rojas PhD 2023 – Postdoctoral Fellow, Universidade Federal do ABC
Karina Brenes Argüello PhD 2023
Rodrigo Silva Nascimento Mancini PhD 2022 – Sr. Scientist at Sygnature Discovery, United Kingdom
Juliane Nogueira Batista Dias Pelin PhD 2021 – CNPq Felow (Level C) – Oxiteno Company
Rafael Mascarenhas de Almeida PhD 2020 – Analytical Development Analyst at Laboratórios Teuto, Brazil
Sandra Valeria Vassiliades PhD 2020 – Postdoctoral Fellow, Universidade de Sao Paulo
Wallace Pereira Garcia MS 2019 – High School Teacher
Mayra Fagundes Costa MS 2019 – Quality Control Analyst at Glenmark Farmacêutica, Brazil
Carla Cristina Decandio PhD 2019 – Staff at Merck Life Science Brazil
Enrique Arias Arciniegas PhD 2018 – Assistant professor, Universidad ECCI
Bruna Miranda Soares PhD 2017 – Staff at Brainfarma Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry
Irina Marinho Factori PhD 2017 – Researcher at ISI Advanced Materials – SENAI Mário Amato
Juliana dos Santos de Souza PhD 2016 – Assistant professor, Universidade Federal do ABC
Sergio Kogikoski Jr. PhD 2016 – Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Potsdam, Germany
Thiago Cipriano PhD 2016 – Professional Training Instructor at SENAI, Santo Andre, Sao Paulo
Márcia Isabel de Souza PhD 2016 – Postdoctoral Fellow, Universidade Federal do ABC
Roberta Bianchi PhD 2015 – Assistant professor, Universidade São Francisco
Michelle da Silva Liberato PhD 2015 – Staff at Reckitt Benckiser, Brazil
Clovis Ananias da Silva PhD 2015 – Postdoctoral Fellow, STC Silicone Técnico Composto Ltda / UFABC
Wellington Alves PhD 2014 – Research at Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares
Camila Pinheiro Sousa PhD 2014 – Assistant professor, Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco
Rondes Ferreira da Silva PhD 2013 – Assistant professor, Faculdade de Tecnologia de Mauá (FATEC)
Iorquirene de Oliveira Matos PhD 2013 – High school teacher
Paulo Vinícius Ferreira da Costa MS 2015 – Staff in the field of atomic microscopy at Analitica LTDA
Heliane Rosa do Amaral MS 2011 – CEO of B-612 Sustainable Solutions
Postdoctoral Research Associates
Anderson Ferreira Sepulveda, 2025 – Postdoctoral Fellow, Federal University of São Paulo.
Jose Eduardo Ulloa Rojas, 2024 – Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo (ICB-USP)
Aline Rodrigues Florêncio Teixeira 2023 – Researcher at Butantan Institute, Brazil
Barbara Bianca Gerbelli 2023 – Researcher at the Diamond Light Source, United Kingdom
Carlos Eduardo de Castro 2022 – Researcher at Oxiteno S.A. Indústria e Comércio
Emerson Rodrigo da Silva 2016 – Assistant professor, Universidade Federal de São Paulo
Michelle da Silva Liberato 2016 – Researcher at Croda International Plc, Brazil
Sivoney Ferreira de Souza 2016 – Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Potsdam, Germany
Tatiana Duque Martins 2009 – Assistant professor, Universidade Federal de Goiás
Pedro Mitsuo Takahashi 2008 – Assistant professor, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo
André Sarto Polo 2008 – Assistant professor, Universidade Federal do ABC
Visitors
Dr. Ana Carolina Domakoski 2017 Visiting researcher from H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 European project
Prof. Suchi Guha 2014-2016 University of Missouri, Columbia, USA.
Prof. Francesca Giuntini 2015-2016 Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
Visiting Graduate Students
Franck Thomas Mohammed Sougui — 2026. Visiting Master’s student from Université Côte d’Azur, Nice, France, under the supervision of Prof. Frédéric Guittard.
Joël Nzihou-Niemet — 2026. Visiting Master’s student from Université Côte d’Azur, Nice, France, under the supervision of Prof. Frédéric Guittard.
Riwan Nassim Zenati — 2026. Visiting Master’s student from Université Côte d’Azur, Nice, France, under the supervision of Prof. Frédéric Guittard.
Syrian Yanis Hemeidan — 2026. Visiting Master’s student from Université Côte d’Azur, Nice, France, under the supervision of Prof. Frédéric Guittard.
Thomas Ladislas Palangue — 2026. Visiting Master’s student from Université Côte d’Azur, Nice, France, under the supervision of Prof. Frédéric Guittard.
Pietro Pacchin Tomanin 2018 Visiting doctoral student from Dr. F. Cavalieri’ group – University of Melbourne, AU.
Grant Knotts 2014 Visiting doctoral student from Prof. S. Guha’ group – University of Missouri, Columbia, USA.
Gallery
