Dr. Bruno Francesco Rodrigues de Oliveira, PhD

Bruno is an Assistant Professor of Bacteriology in the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology at Fluminense Federal University (UFF) in Niterói, Brazil. As a marine microbiologist and bacterial genomicist, his research focuses on host-associated microbiomes within oceanic ecosystems, particularly the macroalgal holobiont. His lab pursues three primary research lines: (1) the diversity, ecophysiology, and biotechnological exploitation of macroalgal microbiomes; (2) the study of CAZomes in marine habitats, encompassing genomics, biochemistry, and industrial applications; and (3) marine bacterial pangenomics. We investigate in our lab both culturable and unculturable microbial communities associated with macroalgae along the Brazilian coast, utilizing metataxonomics, metagenomics, and genomics. Ultimately, we bioprospect these macroalgae microbiomes for the discovery of biologically-active molecules with multiple applications across multiple industrial sectors.

As an openly gay man in academia, Bruno have been committed to fostering a sense of justice and belonging for the LGBTQIA+ community in microbiology since the early days of his PhD. As a Microbiology Society Champion, he helped to establish the “Queer in Microbiology” Working Group in 2022, pioneering in-person and virtual networking events for LGBTQIA+ microbiologists, initially focused on the UK and Ireland but always with an international reach. In late 2022, Bruno joined Dr. Landon Getz and Prof. Dr. Edel Pérez-Lopez to create the Pride in Microbiology Network, which we have been coordinating since June 2023. By means of his actions for the community, Bruno hopes to empower LGBTQIA+ individuals in the microbial sciences, particularly those from underrepresented and historically marginalized groups and those living in the Global South.