Carlos Fred Menck is a full professor at the Instituto of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo. He received his undergraduate degree, major in Biology, and Ph.D. in Biochemistry (1982), from the University of São Paulo, under the supervision of Dr. Rogério Meneghini.
From his initial scientific training, his main interest is in how DNA repair capabilities are involved in cell mutations and cell death, which, in the organisms, are directly involved in processes of carcinogenesis and aging. While in his Ph.D. thesis, he investigated how DNA damage can be replicated; in his three-year postdoc he developed methods to investigate mutagenesis in human cells with shuttle vectors, under Dr. Alain Sarasin, at the Institut de Recherche sur le Cancer, Villejuif, France. In 1988 he moved back to Brazil with a position at the University of São Paulo.
He is investigating how sunlight (ultraviolet) induces DNA damage and the human cells’ responses. Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP, and eventually other human syndromes deficient in DNA repair) cells are at the center of his work as models for studying the consequences of lack of DNA repair. Recently, next-generation sequencing allowed the molecular diagnosis of Brazilian XP patients and studies on mutagenesis induction. His projects also deal with how tumor cells respond to DNA damage after anti-tumor chemotherapy drug treatment, a process involved in tumor recurrence. This knowledge may help in cancer therapy.
He was past president of the Brazilian Society of Genetics and Brazilian Mutagen Society. He is a Senior Investigator of the Brazilian National Research Council, a full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences). He was awarded the Commander-Class of the National Order of Scientific Merit by the President of the Republic of Brazil.
His work has been possible due to the contribution of students and postdocs, who are the leading players in developing his scientific projects. He was the supervisor for 13 Masters, 39 Ph.D. Theses and 22 postdoc fellows.
