Jaqueline Goes: protagonism opens paths for more women in science

The Brazilian biomedic who stood out in the genetic sequencing of Covid-19 is the interviewee for Latin American and Caribbean Women's Day, July 25

Jaqueline Goes de Jesus, biomedical doctor and researcher, born in Bahia, 33 years old, became a prominent figure on the scientific scene and gained the spotlight of the world press following the results of her work in the team responsible for sequencing the first genome of the SARS virus- CoV-2 in Brazil - just 48 hours after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the country.

In recognition of her achievements and influence in the scientific field, Jaqueline was one of six scientists, in 2021, who received a Barbie doll inspired by her achievements, alongside other notable professionals, such as the British Sarah Gilbert, who led the creation of the vaccine Oxford-AstraZeneca. Furthermore, Jaqueline was honored by Turma da Mônica on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. In 2022, the researcher achieved a new milestone by making the list of Forbes magazine’s ‘20 Successful Women in Brazil’.

Currently, she is an assistant professor of the Biomedicine course and a researcher at the Research and Innovation Center at EBMSP. She co-coordinates REDE SEQV BR, a collaborative study initiative on genomic surveillance in Brazil, where she develops research in the area of arboviruses and other emerging pathogens. She is a guide for Team Halo, a project of the UN Verified Initiative for scientific dissemination and combating misinformation about COVID-19 on social networks. She is also one of the Vaccines Luminaries within the G7- Global Vaccine Confidence Campaign and contributes to the Smithsonian Museum's Vaccines & US initiative. Graduated in Biomedicine from the Bahian School of Medicine and Public Health (EBMSP), master's degree in Biotechnology in Health and Investigative Medicine (PgBSMI) from the Gonçalo Moniz Research Institute - Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (IGMFIOCRUZ) and PhD in Human Pathology from the Federal University of Bahia in broad association with IGM-FIOCRUZ.

Today, July 25th, Latin American and Caribbean Women's Day, in a special interview with the Elsevier Connect blog, Jaqueline Goes analyzes important issues about women in science, challenges and achievements, and, mainly, how she has opened doors for other colleagues from its protagonism.

Good reading!

Elsevier: It is impossible to start this interview without mentioning the milestone in your career and in Brazilian science as a whole, during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. But before that, we would like to know: what led you to genetic research?

Jaqueline Goes: I believe that two main points in my career were decisive in developing me in the area of genetic sequencing. The first was the Zibra project, which took place in 2016, the first contact I had with this nanopore sequencing technology. We traveled in a minibus through the Northeast of Brazil, sequencing the Zika virus during field research. In this, we included another virus, Chikungunya, which at the time was also an epidemic. On this trip, I was trained by a team from the University of Birmingham, along with another team from São Paulo, and there I learned how to carry out genetic sequencing using nanopore technology.

The second point was the unfolding of this itinerant phase of the Zibra project, when I requested a scholarship to Capes to do a doctorate and was accepted by the University of Birmingham, in England, to work with the group that had trained us in Brazil. It was a unique moment, when I worked with big names in science. Over the course of six months, I carried out a lot of genetic sequencing, standardizing some protocols for the Zika virus, which later resulted in other, more effective protocols. I also had the opportunity to work with protocols for direct sequencing of human RNA, in addition to protocols for direct sequencing of HIV RNA.

It was a very good period, which made me return to Brazil as a reference on the subject, invited to teach classes in the area of technology. Today, many researchers use the technology that I developed in partnership with a research group at Fiocruz, where I worked. With this, we expanded the methodology throughout Brazil, working with other sequencing fronts, such as the yellow fever virus, dengue virus and even other viruses that are not so well known, but that interested us. The objective was for the protocols to be ready for a possible epidemic.

Elsevier: What were the main challenges faced during the process of sequencing the Covid-19 virus genome?

Jaqueline Goes: I believe that the main challenge we encountered was working with a virus that we had never sequenced before. As it was a new virus, which was beginning to be detected in circulation in human communities, there were no references. The sequencing we carried out was the first of the virus in Brazil.

We knew how to use the technique, but we didn't know what we would find. And that was exactly what, of course