Rafael has a Ph.D in Molecular Biology, Genetics and Bioinformatics from the University of Campinas (Unicamp). His Ph.D was focused on unraveling the microbial community associated with sugarcane and its potential for increasing crop sustainability, a work developed as member of the Saccharome Project, a joint partnership between the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and Unicamp. He was leader of the Plant Microbiome team at the Genomics for Climate Change Research Center (GCCRC) with large focus on understanding the dynamics of microbial communities and their impact in plant health and development. He is also part of the MicrobiomeSupport consortium, a network of 26 countries funded by the European Union focused on boosting the bioeconomy using microbiome technologies.
