Ph.D., History of Science and Technology and Epistemology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2021 to 2022
Research Fellow
Brazilian Genetics and Politics during the Cold War (1940-1950s)
In this research I will study the political tensions that permeated the development of science in Brazil during the Cold War period, specifically its effects on genetics. I will also discuss the role of the Rockefeller Foundation (RF) in history of Brazilian genetics. My goal in this research is to understand how the political environment of the Cold War impacted Brazilian genetics in the 1940s and 1950s. I intend to answer the following questions: a) In what ways did the political pressures from the Cold War affect the Rockefeller Foundation's relations with Brazilian geneticists? b) How did Brazilian scientists perceive political interference in their careers and how did they react to it? c) How did Brazilian scientific and political institutions position themselves in relation to this political friction? The main sources for my research will be the Rockefeller Archive Center, the Columbia Center for Oral History and the American Philosophical Society.