Affiliation: Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri

Dr. Ricardo Augusto Leoni De Sousa received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Science from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 2018, where he developed a new gestational diabetes model in mice, and investigated how this new model would affect the brain and behavior of the offspring. He is conducting his Postdoctoral research in the Program of Physiological Science from Federal University of Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys, where he initially investigated how physical exercise during a gestation infected with zika virus could affect the brain and behavior of mice pups. Nowadays, he has been working in projects involving different neurodegenerative diseases, and the usage of physical exercise as a non-pharmacological intervention on these pathologies. Dr. Ricardo Augusto Leoni De Sousa is a neuroscientist and his research focuses on investigating how physical exercise influences neuroinflammation and affects brain and behavior in different neurodegenerative diseases. He is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, where he participated of the Latin American Training Program 2019-2020.  The main topics of his scientific research are: neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases; memory and cognitive function; anxiety and depression; physical activity and health.