Special interests: Development of regeneration and transformation systems for agricultural crops from the Brazilian northeast such as cowpea, cassava and prickly-pear.

Position: Professor of Plant Molecular Biology, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil

Current activities: My laboratory is currently working on the development of regeneration (via somatic embryogenesis) and transformation systems for cowpea. Our long term goal is to develop transgenic lines with increased resistance against stored insect pests and nematodes. My laboratory is also involved, together with other labs from Universities of the Brazilian northeast, in a federal government funded project to studying the proteomics of cowpea under biotic and biotic stress.