Visiting Professor Spotlight: Dr. Flavio de Castro Magalhaes
Where are you coming from in Brazil? Tell us where you live and work.
I come from a small city in the southeastern part of Brazil called Diamantina, in the state of Minas Gerais. It has this name because lot of diamonds (diamante, in Portuguese) were (and still are!) found there. I work at a federal university at Diamantina called Federal University of the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys. It is a quite new university being less than 20 years-old.

Tell us about your academic work. What is your educational background? Where did you do your studies?
I have bachelor degree in Physical Education from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (also in Brazil) and that was also were I got my masters degree in Exercise Sciences. I have a Ph.D. from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Please share with us your research interests. What types of research do you enjoy?
My research projects involve the understanding of how different types of exercise affect insulin resistance and obesity, both at the systemic and molecular level. Also, I am very interested in evaluating strategies that can be combined with exercise to enhance its effect, like heat stress or cold stress, phototherapy, dietary manipulations, and hypobaric conditions, to name some. My research projects involve human subjects, mice and cell culture studies, as these approaches can be complementary each other.

Why were you interested in coming to UNM Exercise Science for a Visiting Professor position?
Dr. Amorim from the Exercise Science program at UNM is a colleague and long-term friend of mine. He was the one that told me about this position at UNM. I think that as scholars we must always seek new challenges in order to improve ourselves as educators and as persons and I saw this opportunity as one these challenges. Furthermore, I think I can contribute to the Exercise Science program, both at the undergrad and the graduate levels by sharing my experience in teaching and advising the students.

Outside of teaching and research, what other special interests do you have?
I like to exercise! Resistance exercise is my favorite, by also I ride the bike every day for 20-30 min. I also practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which is my passion. I also like watching documentaries and reading about history, specially that related to the War Worlds.

Dr. Flavio de Castro Magalhaes...We Welcome you to Exercise Science this year!