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Dr. Pedro Xavier-Elsas

Associate Professor
Instituto de Microbiologia Prof. Paulo de Góesl, UFRJ
CCS Bloco I Room I-2-066
 

Brief Biography:


MD by Medical School of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil, 1979. M. Sc. (Biophysics), 1981. Research Fellow (Pathology), Harvard Med. Sch., Boston, MA, USA, 1981-1983. Research Fellow (Medicine), Harvard Med. Sch., and Research Fellow (Rheumatology/Immunology), 1983-1984. Fellow, Association pour l'étude de la Schistosomiase, Centre d'Immunologie INSERM-CNRS de Marseille-Luminy, France, 1985-1987. Professeur Associé, Université d'Aix-Marseille II, France, 1987-1988. Visiting Scientist, Hospital Evandro Chagas, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, 1989-1990. PhD (Microbiology), UFRJ, 1990. Joined Faculty at UFRJ as Assistant Professor, Dept. of Immunology, 1990. Promoted to Associate Professor 1991. Visiting Scientist (Stagiaire) at the Institut Pasteur de Paris, France, 1991, 1994, 1997. Visiting Scientist at Roche Research Gent, Belgium, 1994. Research Productivity Award from the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) during the last 12 years, currently at level 1D. Complete list of publications available online at the Lattes Curriculum platform of CNPq (www.cnpq.br). Visiting Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, 2005. Acted and/or acts as reviewer for: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, British Journal of Pharmacology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Biologicals, Immunology, Thorax, European Respiratory Journal; evaluated projects for the Thrasher Foundation (Utah), the Research Council of Flanders (Belgium), CNPq, FAPERJ and FACEPE, FIOCRUZ and INCA (all Brazilian governmental research-funding or sponsoring agencies).  Has been involved since 1983 in the immunopharmacological study of allergic processes, with an emphasis on cytokine regulation of eosinophil and neutrophil granulocytes, as well as hemopoiesis as related to allergic and infectious diseases. 

 

Academic positions:


Currently Associate Professor, Dept. of Immunology, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (joined faculty 1990).

Spent a sabatical year at Harvard University, as Visiting Professor of Medicine (2005).

Previously, Professeur Associé, Université d'Aix-Marseille II, France (1987-1988).

 

Research interests:


Basic mechanisms in allergy and infectious diseases.

Experimental studies in asthma and allergy.

Drug discovery and reevaluation in the field of allergy.

Hemopoiesis in the context of allergic and infectious diseases.

Cellular mechanisms in hemopoietic regulation.

Biology of eosinophils.

 

Any other information:


I am keenly interested in contributing to improvements in the current policies of scientific publication, so as to allow equal opportunities to scientists from all countries. To that end, I am already actively involved in supporting a number of peer-reviewed journals from publishers based in African and Middle-Eastern countries. I will be pleased to join your faculty and to help perfect the publication model of WebmedCentral, by reviewing manuscripts within my field of expertise, and advising WebmedCentral on matters of my professional experience.

 

What I think of the idea behind WebmedCentral:


I think this is a model of scientific review and publication that is probably more complete and more impartial than anonymous peer review in the traditional model. It has had successful precedents, including an Oxford journal in which a draft was published and invited multiple reviews from specialists, which were also published along with the original (and revised) versions of the study. In Immunology, Dr. R. K. Gershon pioneered a journal along similar lines, in which a conventional peer review was followed by publication of the paper and of the reviewer's criticisms, which were signed by the reviewers. It is my feeling that anonymous peer-review is not necessarily sound or fair, and that signed peer reviews will probably make reviewers more objective and structured in their criticisms, as well as authors more careful in their answers.