Public health
In 2006, Professor Hervé Rogez started a study on the transmission of chagas disease through açaí, motivated by the outbreak of the disease in several cities in Pará during this period. The Ministry of Health sent several specialists to investigate the causes of this contamination. With the study, the researcher was able to verify what those causes were and promote actions, together with the State Government and the population, to prevent the disease and improve the quality of the product that is offered. The Biotechnology Graduate Program has contributed significantly to areas necessary for human survival and better living conditions. Collaboration takes place through food production and improvement, pest control, animal health, diagnosis of inherited diseases, hormone production, among others.
Patent Exploitation
The Program's tenured professors are involved in the organization of biotechnology companies such as AMAZON DREAMS resulting in very relevant awards in December 2012 and a Patent in 2013 (by Professor Hervé Rogez, with the participation of the student Fábio Gomes Moura) with a exploration signed between UFPA and a private company (Amazon Dreams). Between 2014 and 2016, more patents were filed with student participation.
Project Funding
Finally, in France, there is a project involving CIRAD and Univ. de Montpellier through Dr. Fabrice Vaillant and Univ. Avignon by Dr. Raphael Lugan. This project (2015-2018) is fully funded by a private company (Naturex) and has a scholarship from a PPGBIOTEC doctoral student (Lívia Dickson Chen) who spent 18 months at UFPA and is currently for 20 months in France.