Daniela Drummond-Barbosa is a Brazilian-American geneticist who is a professor of genetics at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. She works as an investigator of regenerative biology at Morgridge Institute for Research. Drummond-Barbosa earned her bachelor's degree at

Federal University of Minas Gerais The Federal University of Minas Gerais (, UFMG) is a federalIn the Brazilian Higher Education context, ''Federal'' does not mean ''collegiate'' (even though most Federal Universities in Brazil enjoy a similarly collegiate system), but it means ...

and her P.h.D at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Her research focuses on germline stem cell lineage metabolism and maintenance as well as the physiology of ''Drosophila melanogaster''. These contributions have broader implications detailing diet and temperature's impacts on fertility.

Early life and education

Drummond-Barbosa was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, and grew up in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

in Brazil. She earned her undergraduate degree in biochemistry and immunology at the

in 1991. She moved to

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, for her graduate studies at

. Her gradate studies took place at the Genetics Program, where she received her M.Phil. in 1993. Drummond-Barbosa pursued further education where she worked with Daniel DiMaio for her P.h.D. research. Her doctoral research focused on the interactions between platelet-derived growth factor receptors and the

bovine papillomavirus Bovine papillomaviruses (BPV) are a paraphyletic group of DNA viruses of the subfamily '' Firstpapillomavirinae'' of '' Papillomaviridae'' that are common in cattle. All BPVs have a circular double-stranded DNA genome. Infection causes warts ...

E5 protein. She received her P.h.D. from

in 1995. Drummond-Barbosa completed postdoctoral training at the

Carnegie Institution for Science The Carnegie Institution for Science, also known as Carnegie Science and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, is an organization established to fund and perform scientific research in the United States. This institution is headquartered in W ...

studying ''

Drosophila melanogaster ''Drosophila melanogaster'' is a species of fly (an insect of the Order (biology), order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly", "pomace fly" ...

'' with Allan C. Spradling. Her post doctoral research focused on the adult tissue stem cell regeneration of fruit flies and she first identified that

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...

s and their derivatives responded to diet.

Research and career

Vanderbilt

Drummond-Barbosa continued to study the regulation of stem cells as she started her independent career, as an assistant professor, at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

in 2002. During this time, she focused on how germline stem cells are regulated by diet and the control of meiotic maturation in the model organism, ''

Drosophila ''Drosophila'' (), from Ancient Greek δρόσος (''drósos''), meaning "dew", and φίλος (''phílos''), meaning "loving", is a genus of fly, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or p ...

''.

Johns Hopkins

In 2009 Drummond-Barbosa was appointed to

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private university, private research university primarily based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded as the Johns Hopkins ...

as an investigator and professor, where she eventually achieved tenure status. There, she continued her research considering adult stem cells' ability to sense and respond to external and systemic environments such as manipulated diets, temperature, and other stressors. She has focused on the ovarian stem cells of ''Drosophila'' and how they respond to diet, concentrating specifically on hormones, insulin and adipose tissue.

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Drummond-Barbosa left

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

in 2022 and is currently teaching and investigating further at

in the Morgridge Institute for Research.

Memberships and organizations

Drummond-Barbosa is attributed with co-organizing the

Genetics Society of America The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is a scholarly membership society of more than 5,500 genetics researchers and educators, established in 1931. The Society was formed from the reorganization of the Joint Genetics Sections of the American Soc ...

's 55th annual ''Drosophila'' research conference in 2014. Soon after, she served as a selection committee member, then chair, of the Larry Sandler Memorial Award given by the Genetics Society of America (2015–2016) As well, she served as chair of the peer review committee for the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

until 2017. Recently (2016-2020), she served as a member of the

national institutes of health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

within the Cellular Mechanisms in Aging and Development section of study. Most recently, Drummond-Barbosa has been acting as an associate editor for

Genetics (journal) ''Genetics'' is a monthly scientific journal publishing investigations bearing on heredity, genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biolo ...

Implications

Drummond-Barbosa's research introduces a novel study surrounding the control and maintenance of germline stem cells in ''

'', allowing for broader impacts such as infertility, obesity, and climate change to be understood. For example, she has facilitated research implying that the increased temperatures associated with

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

may impact

oogenesis Oogenesis () or ovogenesis is the differentiation of the ovum (egg cell) into a cell competent to further develop when fertilized. It is developed from the primary oocyte by maturation. Oogenesis is initiated before birth during embryonic devel ...

and

spermatogenesis Spermatogenesis is the process by which haploid spermatozoa develop from germ cells in the seminiferous tubules of the testicle. This process starts with the Mitosis, mitotic division of the stem cells located close to the basement membrane of ...

negatively. As well, her work has illustrated a link between infertility and diet.

Awards

* 1990 Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas Scientific Initiation Fellowship * 1997

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

National Research Service Award * 2006

Chancellor's Award for Research * 2007 American Cancer Society Research Scholar * 2014 Elected Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

* 2017

Shikani/El Hibri Prize for Discovery & Innovation

Selected publications

Below is a list of publications that Daniela Drummond-Barbosa did at the beginning of her career, co-authored in, and articles that contributed to the scientific community as a whole. * * * * Hsu, Hwei-Jan; Drummond-Barbosa, Daniela(2009-01-27)
Insulin levels control female germline stem cell maintenance via the niche in Drosophila
PNAS. 106 (4): 1117-1122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0809144106. * P.Gandara, Anna; Drummond-Barbosa, Daniela (2022-03-07)
"Development", ''Warm and cold temperatures have distinct germline stem cell lineage effects during Drosophila oogenesis''
vol. 149, no. 5, The Company of Biologist. doi:https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.200149 * Dutra Nunes, Rodrigo; Drummond-Barbosa, Daniela (2023-06-13)
"Development", ''A high-sugar diet, but not obesity, reduces female fertility in Drosophila melanogaster''
vol. 150, no. 20, The Company of Biologists. doi:https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.201769 * P.Gandara, Ana Caroline (2023-06-30)
"Nature", ''Chronic exposure to warm temperature causes low sperm abundance and quality in Drosophila melanogaste''
'r'', vol. 13, no. 12331, Nature, Scientific Reports. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39360-7v

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Belo Horizonte Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health faculty Yale University alumni {{Improve categories, date=March 2025