Dr. Luana da Silva Chagas graduated in Biomedical Sciences from Federal Fluminense University, Brazil in 2011, where she also obtained her Ph.D. degree (2018) and a Master’s degree (2014) in Neuroscience. Currently, she is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Neural Plasticity Lab in the Neurobiology Department of the same Institution. Her work in research and scientific communication is mainly focused on neuroinflammation; brain development; immune cell cross-talk; and neuroplasticity, glial and microglial activation. Her current study investigates how neuronal damage triggers immune activity and impacts neuroplasticity in specific developmental windows.

Dr. Claudio Alberto Serfaty graduated in Medicine from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1984, where he obtained a master's and Ph.D. degree in Biological Sciences (Biophysics) in 1988 and 1994, respectively, with a internship at the Department of Human Anatomy at Oxford University in 1989. He is currently a Full Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at Fluminense Federal University and coordinator of the Neural Plasticity Laboratory. He was the coordinator of the Postgraduate Program in Neurosciences at UFF (2014–2018). He works on research and extension projects and has experience in the areas of developmental neuroscience, neurochemistry, neuroinflammation, neuroplasticity and experimental nutrition. His studies emphasize the development and plasticity of the central nervous system and its critical periods. His lines of research include the study of the development of neural circuits; injury-induced plasticity in the visual system and microglial activation and neuroinflammation; the role of omega-3 fatty acids and serotonin in the development of the visual system.