Sarisa Na Pombejra obtained her Ph.D. in Microbiology from University of California, Davis, and B.Sc. in Biology from Mahidol University in Thailand. Her doctoral research focused on elucidating molecular mechanisms that Cryptococcus neoformans, an opportunistic yeast, utilized to cross the human blood-brain barrier leading to a damage of the central nervous system. Besides fundamental research, she is also interested in translational science, particularly development of therapeutics to combat infectious diseases. Sarisa joined the de Figueiredo in February 2022. Her current research focuses on developing a direct functional assay and single-cell resolution platform to discover neutralizing antibodies against influenza and SARS-CoV-2.
The de Figueiredo Lab 