Exact & Natural Sciences,
Engineering & Medicine

Professor Emeritus — Aalto University (Finland)

Building a Bidirectional Electromagnetic Link to the Brain: Combining MultiLocus TMS, EEG, and AI

Among the deepest motivations in science are the beauty and logic of mathematics and physics, as well as questions that seem to reach beyond them. For example, are events ultimately predetermined or random, and where, in the physical world, including AI machinery, is there room for consciousness or free will? Such thought experiments can inspire one to study neuroscience, where mathematics, electromagnetism, electronics, and medicine converge in the effort to characterize, understand, and influence the human brain. Particularly striking examples of this convergence are electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). With EEG and MEG, one can observe brain activity by measuring electromagnetic fields outside the head. In contrast, TMS allows modulating brain activity with brief, strong magnetic-field pulses that induce electric currents in the brain, depolarizing neuronal membranes and triggering action potentials. This method is used in basic research, diagnostics, and therapy. However, conventional TMS therapy is still largely nonindividualized: pulses are typically delivered repeatedly to a single target, with limited adaptation to the patient’s brain state or response. We have developed the first multi-locus TMS (mTMS) devices, collaborating closely also with the University of São Paulo. These instruments can change the location and orientation of the stimulating electric field electronically, in less than 1 ms, without moving the coils. This has required overcoming considerable engineering challenges: TMS systems operate with currents of thousands of amperes and instantaneous power in the megawatt range. Our current five-coil system enables electronic targeting and electric-field orientation control within a cortical region approximately 30 mm in diameter.The combination of simultaneous mTMS and EEG creates a bidirectional, non-invasive link to the brain. EEG can reveal the brain’s state and its immediate response to stimulation, while computer algorithms can use this information in real time to select the next stimulus. Our long-term goal is a closed-loop system that interacts with the brain somewhat like a therapist: listening, responding, and continuously adapting the approach. By bringing together physics, mathematics, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence, this approach may substantially improve the precision, individualization, and therapeutic efficacy of brain stimulation.

Full Professor — University of São Paulo (Brazil)

Exercise as Therapy: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

The idea that movement heals is one of medicine’s oldest intuitions. As early as Hippocrates, exercise—in the right dosage—was seen as a remedy against illness; it later took on a mechanistic dimension with Descartes, whose "animal spirits" (1649) traveled along the nerves to set the body-machine in motion. It was not until 1953, with Jerry Morris’s study of London bus workers, that this age-old perception was transformed into epidemiological evidence. What Descartes had conjectured was finally measured: exercise operates through a systemic molecular repertoire, likely inherited from an evolutionary history that shaped us for movement. Today, there is robust evidence of the therapeutic effects of exercise on conditions as diverse as obesity, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, and COVID-19. From clinical practice to public health, the contemporary challenge has shifted from the “efficacy” of exercise—which has been amply demonstrated—to its “effectiveness,” a matter that remains open to question. Answering what makes someone physically active requires viewing movement not merely as an individual behavior to be corrected through counseling and awareness-raising, but as a health practice shaped by embodied dispositions, unequally distributed resources, and the social fields in which bodies live and work. This shift in perspective has profound implications: the question "how do we convince this person to change?" is joined by another, equally decisive one—what conditions make such a change possible for them? It is this question that should drive the field forward.

Professor Emeritus — University of Campinas (Brazil)

Earth's Other Story: Cosmic Catastrophes that Shaped our Planet

Despite current concerns regarding climate change and its impact on Earth and its life, one must remember that our planet has gone through countless catastrophic events throughout its 4.54 billion years of history. This talk explores some of these events, with particular emphasis on those triggered by extraterrestrial—or cosmic—phenomena. Earth's evolution, and that of the life it supports today, has been shaped by the interplay of endogenous and exogenous processes. These interactions continue to influence our planet and will remain fundamental drivers of its evolution for billions of years to come.

Full Professor — Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil)

From Physics to Psychedelics: Brain, Culture, and Mental Health

In this lecture, I aim to present a personal and scientific journey marked by the convergence of different fields of knowledge: from physics applied to medicine and neuroscience, from functional neuroimaging to clinical mental health research, to studies involving ayahuasca and DMT, and to dialogue with traditional knowledge. Drawing on this trajectory, I will discuss how complex issues— such as consciousness, depression, and altered states of consciousness—demand approaches that transcend rigid disciplinary boundaries. The talk will address neurobiological and clinical evidence from our studies on psychedelic substances, as well as their historical, cultural, ethical, and social contexts. The central idea is to demonstrate how integrating natural sciences, the humanities, clinical practice, therapeutic innovation, and traditional knowledge can spark new questions and open new pathways.

Professor Emeritus — University of Rome “Tor Vergata” (Italy)

Scientific Publishing in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, is profoundly transforming the landscape of scientific publishing. AI is reshaping every stage of the publication process, from literature discovery and hypothesis generation to manuscript drafting, language editing, peer review, and post-publication analysis. These technologies have the potential to increase productivity, improve accessibility for non-native English speakers, accelerate knowledge dissemination, and facilitate the synthesis of rapidly expanding scientific literature. At the same time, the widespread adoption of AI raises important concerns regarding scientific integrity, authorship, transparency, reproducibility, plagiarism, fabricated data and references, algorithmic bias, and the potential amplification of misinformation. Publishers, editors, reviewers, and research institutions are therefore challenged to establish clear ethical frameworks and robust guidelines governing the responsible use of AI throughout the scientific workflow. Rather than replacing human expertise, AI should be viewed as an assistive technology that complements critical thinking, scientific creativity, and ethical judgment, while preserving human accountability for the accuracy and originality of published research. Future scientific publishing will likely evolve toward a hybrid model in which AI supports routine and analytical tasks, whereas human researchers maintain responsibility for hypothesis generation, experimental design, interpretation of results, and final editorial decisions. Ensuring transparency in AI-assisted writing, developing reliable AI-detection and validation tools, and promoting international standards for responsible AI use will be essential to maintain trust in scientific literature. Ultimately, the integration of AI into scholarly communication represents both an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate scientific discovery and a critical test of the research community's ability to preserve the principles of rigor, reproducibility, and integrity that underpin scientific progress.

Professor — University College London (United Kingdom)

Nanomaterials for the Future

The strategic engineering of advanced nanomaterials is a cornerstone of next-generation healthcare technologies. Among these, plasmonic and magnetic nanomaterials have emerged as powerful platforms because of their unique optical, electronic, and magnetic behaviors at the nanoscale. By combining these properties, researchers can design smart, multifunctional systems that bridge the gap between diagnosis and therapy (theranostics). This innovative research leverages the synergistic effects of noble metals and magnetic oxides to overcome the limitations of conventional medicine, offering highly precise, minimally invasive solutions for early disease detection and targeted cancer treatments. The four pillars of the research framework are: 1. Design: Conceptualizing complex hybrid architectures (such as core-shell, heterodimers, or branched structures) to maximize synergy between magnetic and plasmonic fields while ensuring longterm colloidal stability. 2. Synthesis: Utilizing advanced chemical routes (including thermal decomposition, co-precipitation, and microfluidic synthesis) to achieve rigorous, reproducible control over the size, shape, and crystallinity of the nanoparticles. 3. Characterization: Employing state-of-the-art analytical tools—such as Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and SQUID magnetometry—to assess physical metrics and validate precise structure-property relationships. 4. Biofunctionalization: Engineering the nanoparticle surface with biocompatible polymers (e.g., PEG) and specific targeting ligands (antibodies, peptides, or aptamers) to evade immune clearance andselectively bind to molecular biomarkers. The lecture will cover examples and applications of magnetic and metallic nanoparticles.

Full Professor — University of São Paulo (Brazil)

Artificial Intelligence: When, What, How and Why

With all the attention it has received in recent years and its widespread use across several application domains, artificial intelligence is in its golden age. In this talk, after briefly presenting the origins of the field and introducing the main basic aspects of artificial intelligence, with a focus on machine learning, I will discuss how the area has evolved, its successes and pitfalls, where artificial intelligence has been successfully used, the international scenario, the situation of artificial intelligence in Brazil, and the main risks and opportunities. During the talk, I will briefly show some applications of artificial intelligence in different areas

Professor Emeritus — University of São Paulo (Brazil)

Ultra-Processed Foods: A Convincing Explanation from Brazilian Researchers for the Pandemic of Obesity and other Food-Related Chronic Illnesses.

This conference will combine narrative and systematic reviews with original analyses and metaanalyses to assess three hypotheses about a dietary pattern based on ultra-processed foods. The first hypothesis—that this pattern is globally displacing long-established diets centered on whole foods and their culinary preparation as dishes and meals—is supported by decades of national food intake and purchase surveys and recent global sales data. The second—that this pattern results in deterioration of diet quality, especially in relation to chronic disease prevention—is confirmed by national food intake surveys, large cohorts, and interventional studies showing gross nutrient imbalances; overeating driven by high energy density, hyper-palatability, soft texture, and disrupted food matrices; reduced intake of health-protective phytochemicals; and increased intake of toxic compounds, endocrine disruptors, and potentially harmful classes and mixtures of food additives. The third and final hypothesis—that this pattern increases the risk of multiple diet-related chronic diseases through various mechanisms—is substantiated by more than 100 prospective studies, meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, and mechanistic studies, covering adverse outcomes across nearly all organ systems. The totality of the evidence supports the thesis that the displacement of long-established dietary patterns by ultraprocessed foods is a key driver of the escalating global burden of multiple diet-related chronic diseases. Finally, policy actions and broader public health strategies to promote, protect, and support diets based on fresh and minimally processed foods, and to prevent the displacement of these foods by ultraprocessed foods, will be specified.