By Pioneer Science | Published on November 24, 2025 | Last updated on May 14, 2026
The pharmacist Artur da Silva, a professor at Federal University of Goiás, has built his academic trajectory with a clear purpose: to develop new products that can replace animal models in biomedical research. Selected in the first public call from Pioneer Science, Artur leads an innovative project to study diabetic retinopathy through a chip that simulates retinal cells from patients with the disease, preserving the genetic information of each individual to investigate more precisely how it develops.
In an interview with Pioneer Science, the researcher discusses the project’s differentiators, the paths of precision medicine, the expectation of doing frontier science in Brazil, and advises researchers interested in the 2026 Call.
What was your main motivation for developing this project?
We discover few radical innovation products each year. There are still many diseases for which we do not have effective treatment, such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes.
When I completed my undergraduate degree, I decided that I wanted to work precisely in this line of research — seeking new treatment methods for people. Throughout my training in my master’s and doctorate, I realized that many of the products we have today are still developed based on animal models. I saw that perhaps we are not advancing as we could in the development of new medications precisely because we are using models that do not represent human biology.
In your research, you are developing the “patient-on-a-chip.” What is the innovation behind this model?
We will work with cells from patients who have diabetic retinopathy. We know that, in cases of poorly controlled diabetes, the patient may begin to lose vision, but there are also people with the same condition who do not develop the eye disease.
Our idea is precisely to investigate what differentiates these two groups, analyzing inflammatory markers, signs of cell death, and other elements that may indicate pathways for early diagnosis and, who knows, new treatment possibilities.
This model is innovative mainly because it preserves the entire genetic background of the patient.
How will the cells from patients with diabetic retinopathy be obtained?
From a hair strand of these diabetic patients. Once the cells are obtained, we will reprogram them into stem cells and then differentiate them into retinal cells. Next, these cells will be inserted into a device that fits in the palm of the hand — a chip — that simulates the retinal environment.
The chip will allow simulating important aspects, such as blood flow and the interaction between different cell types. The idea is to create compartments within this chip to understand how these cells communicate with each other.
How can this technology contribute to accelerating the development of new treatments for Diabetic Retinopathy?
The main aspects of this model are that it seeks to get as close as possible to the physiology of the human retina. Our model comes with this dual proposal: to replace the use of animals, and at the same time, to be more relevant from a physiological point of view. The idea is that what I observe on the chip has a direct relationship with what I see in the clinic. And, as we will extract the cells directly from the patients, we will also have access to their medical records — which will allow us to correlate the stage of the disease (more advanced or milder) with the changes observed in the model.
“Science has never been and will never be done in isolation, and being part of a network articulated with scientists who dare to take risks creates an ecosystem of possibilities for us to unravel the world.”
Your research fits into disruptive science by changing a logic built over many decades, fulfilling the main criterion of the first National Call of Pioneer Science. How did the Call transform the course of your project?
I think Pioneer Science came at an extremely necessary moment, especially because of the style of our project — which is highly disruptive. It would hardly be funded by a traditional funding agency precisely because it is a high-risk project.
Pioneer Science gave us this opportunity — and more than that, it gave us courage. Courage to take a frontier proposal off the paper, which in a traditional call might not have had space.
Pioneer Science will open the new National Call in January 2026. What would you say to another researcher interested in embarking on this journey?
The Pioneer Science Call is more than just funding for research. It gives you back the courage to seek answers and develop risky solutions to complex problems. Additionally, belonging to this community will connect you with extraordinary ideas, brilliant people, and allow you to experience indescribable moments of exchange and learning. After all, science has never been and will never be done in isolation, and being part of a network articulated with scientists who dare to take risks creates an ecosystem of possibilities for us to unravel the world.
Follow Pioneer Science’s social media to learn more about each project funded by the philanthropic initiative and receive updates on the 2026 Call.
