Physical & Biological Sciences Division
Research Specialist
Staff
Researcher
Sinsheimer Laboratories
132
Chemistry
I earned my BSc, MSc, and PhD in Biomolecular Physics from the University of São Paulo (Brazil) and NeCEN–Leiden University (The Netherlands). From 2013 to 2015, I served as a Lecturer in the Department of Physics at the Federal University of São Carlos. I was subsequently awarded the Louis Perry Jones Fellowship at Harvard Medical School, followed by the prestigious Banting Research Fellowship at the University of Toronto, Canada. I am currently the Director of the Biomolecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Protein Biophysics and Structural Biology
Dr. Vitor Hugo Balasco Serrão’s research interests center on the development and application of cryo–electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and biomolecular physics to understand the structure, dynamics, and function of complex biological systems. His work focuses on elucidating high-resolution structures of macromolecular assemblies involved in protein folding, stress response, and immune recognition, with an emphasis on structure-guided approaches to vaccine and therapeutic design. He is particularly interested in advancing cryo-EM methodologies, integrating computational and experimental pipelines, and enabling access to cutting-edge structural biology technologies to address fundamental questions in human health and disease.
Dr. Vitor Hugo Balasco Serrão’s teaching interests focus on training students and researchers in structural biology, biomolecular physics, and advanced microscopy techniques. He is particularly committed to hands-on education in cryo–electron microscopy, including sample preparation, data acquisition, image processing, and rigorous data interpretation. His teaching also emphasizes the physical principles underlying macromolecular structure determination, quantitative thinking, and the integration of computational tools with experimental workflows. More broadly, he is interested in developing interdisciplinary curricula that prepare students for careers at the interface of physics, biology, and technology, while fostering responsible data use, reproducibility, and collaborative research practices.
Dr. Vitor Hugo Balasco Serrão has received numerous national and international honors recognizing excellence in research, training, and early-career achievement. These include highly competitive postdoctoral fellowships from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Banting and CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowships) and the Louis Perry Jones Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School. He has been awarded multiple international research and mobility grants, including Mitacs Globalink, Science Without Borders, and visiting research fellowships in the Netherlands. His work has also been recognized by professional societies and international conferences with early-career, young investigator, and poster awards from organizations such as EMBO, the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Microscopy Society of America, the International Union of Microbeam Analysis Societies, and the Brazilian Societies of Biochemistry and Microscopy. Throughout his academic training, he was supported by prestigious undergraduate, MSc, and PhD scholarships from major Brazilian funding agencies, including FAPESP, CNPq, and CAPES, reflecting sustained excellence across all career stages.
A full list of publications can be found here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/vitor%20hugo.serrao.1/bibliography/public/
