About the research:
The spread of multidrug-resistant microorganisms compromises therapeutic efficacy and poses growing challenges to modern medicine. In polymicrobial infections, fungi and bacteria coexist and interact, modulating virulence and drug response. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), nanoparticles that mediate intercellular communication, transport proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and metabolites, and may play a central role in these interactions. This project investigates the hypothesis that EVs released during fungus–bacteria interaction display a distinct molecular repertoire, enriched in compounds with antimicrobial or antivirulence activity. Through an integrative approach combining omics analyses and computational modeling, the study seeks to identify new bioactive compounds and their mechanisms of action, expanding therapeutic perspectives in the face of antimicrobial resistance.
Awards and honors:
🏆 Young Scientist of Our State, FAPERJ (2026)
🏆 Pioneer Science Grantee (2025)
🏆 Young Fluminense Researcher, FAPERJ (2025)
🏆 Outstanding article prize – Rizzo et al., 2020, Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology (2022)
🏆 Pasteur-Roux-Cantarini Postdoctoral Fellowship, Institut Pasteur, France (2020)
Selected publications:
Rodrigues et al., 2025. Characterizing extracellular vesicles of human fungal pathogens. Nature Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-025-01962-4
Rizzo et al., 2023. Coregulation of extracellular vesicle production and fluconazole susceptibility in Cryptococcus neoformans. mBio. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00870-23
Rizzo et al., 2021. Cryptococcus extracellular vesicles properties and their use as vaccine platforms. Journal of Extracellular Vesicles. https://doi.org/10.1002/jev2.12129
Rizzo et al., 2020. Characterization of Extracellular Vesicles Produced by Protoplasts. mSphere. https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00476-20
Rizzo et al., 2020. Extracellular vesicles in fungi: past, present and future perspectives. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2020.00346
