Francisco Laurindo, MD, PhD

Professor, Heart Institute (Incor) & Director, Vascular Biology Laboratory

University of São Paulo

President, Society for Redox Biology and Medicine

Research focus

An endoplasmic reticulum-centered model for redox-dependent intercellular communication

Faculty hosts

Edward Bahnson, PhD and Sharon Campbell, PhD

Francisco Laurindo is pioneer in redox signaling and cardiovascular biology. He earned his medical degree from the University of São Paulo School of Medicine in 1978 and completed his residence training in internal medicine and cardiology at the University of São Paulo School of Medicine’s Heart Institute (Incor). He trained in physiology and pharmacology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences under the mentorship of Robert Goldstein from 1984 to 1987. In 1992, he returned to the University of São Paulo School of Medicine, where he earned his PhD investigating the mechanisms of redox signaling in the vascular system under the supervision of Protásio da Luz. In 2001, with da Luz, Laurindo started the Vascular Biology Laboratory at the Heart Institute (Incor) and became its director in 2008. He investigates the mechanisms and regulatory processes underlying oxidant species production in vascular cells and tissues and their physiological implications for vessel remodeling in disease. His research group uncovered the shear stress-dependent generation of superoxide radical from the endothelium, characterized the redox response to vascular injury, and discovered how the endoplasmic reticulum chaperone protein, disulfide isomerase, interacts functionally and physically with oxidant-generating NADPH oxidase complexes. These findings have led to a better understanding of endoplasmic reticulum pathophysiology on NADPH oxidase function and how redox processes regulate cell migration and vascular remodeling.