Celso S. G. Catumbela
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Celso Santos Gonçalves Catumbela is an international (Angolan) Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio. He received the degree of Bachelor of Science with a major in biology and minor in sociology from Southwestern University in May, 2013. In August of 2014, Dr. Catumbela enrolled in the Graduate Biology Program of Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. He received the degree of Master of Science in Biology from Sam Houston State University in May, 2017. In August of 2017, Dr. Catumbela entered The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston, Texas. Therein, he joined the laboratory of Dr. Rodrigo Morales where his thesis focused on Alzheimer’s disease pathology and its link to liver toxicity and sepsis, and even examined animal prion disorders as part of non-thesis projects; and ultimately, he achieved a Doctorate in Neuroscience in August, 2024. Currently, as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Sarah C. Hopp at UT Health San Antonio, Dr. Catumbela investigates the mechanisms underlying calcium dysregulation and endolysosomal dysfunction in neurons and microglia, in the context of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
In his free time, Dr. Catumbela enjoys playing boardgames, cooking, and watching nature documentaries and science-fiction movies. In May, 2024, as a volunteer for the National Marrow Donor Program in the United States, he had the privilege of donating blood stem cells for a leukemia patient in need—this remains Dr. Catumbela's proudest life achievement.
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Professional Background
Education
- 2017-2024 - PhD, Neuroscience - The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (Houston, Texas)
- 2014 - 2017 - MSc, Biology - Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, Texas)
- 2010 - 2013 - BSc, Biology; Minor, Sociology - Southwestern University (Georgetown, Texas)
Honors
- 2023 - Dee S. and Patricia Osborne Endowed Scholarship
- 2022 - Henry W. Strobel, PhD Endowed Scholarship
- 2021 - Dee S. and Patricia Osborne Endowed Scholarship
- 2019 - City Federation of Women’s Club Endowed Scholarship in the Biomedical Sciences
- 2016 - Samuel Kaplan Poster Award. American Society for Microbiology
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Research
Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Microglial Dyshomeostasis
Calcium Dysregulation
Endolysosomal Dysfunction
Behavioral Neuroscience
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Publications
10) Celso S. G. Catumbela, Rodrigo Morales. “Elderly mice with history of acetaminophen intoxication display worsened cognitive impairment and persistent elevation of astrocyte and microglia burden”. Scientific reports. 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65185-z
9) Celso S. G. Catumbela, Catalina Valdes, Rodrigo Morales. “Prion-like proteins in health and disease”. Neurobiology of Infectious Diseases, 1st Edition, Vol. 1. Elsevier. 2024. ISBN: 9780443191305
8) Rebeca Benavente, Celso S. G. Catumbela, Rodrigo Morales. “Overview on human transmissible spongiform encephalopathies”. Neurobiology of Infectious Diseases, 1st Edition, Vol. 1. Elsevier. 2024. ISBN: 9780443191305
7) Katherine Do, Rebeca Benavente, Celso S. G. Catumbela, Uffaf Khan, Carlos Kramm, Claudio Soto, Rodrigo Morales. “Adaptation of the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technique for the screening of anti-prion compounds”. FASEB Journal. 2024. DOI: 10.1096/fj.202400614R.
6) Celso S. G. Catumbela, Vijayasree V. Giridharan, Tatiana Barichello, Rodrigo Morales. “Clinical evidence of human pathogens implicated in Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis”. Translational Neurodegeneration. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40035-023-00369-7
5) Vijayasree V. Giridharan, Celso S. G. Catumbela, Bhanu P Ganesh B, Fabricia Petronilho, Felipe Dal-Pizzol, Rodrigo Morales, Tatiana Barichello. “Sepsis increases gut dysbiosis, neuroinflammation, and amyloid burden in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease”. Molecular Psychiatry. 2023. DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-02172-2.
4) Celso S. G. Catumbela, and Rodrigo Morales. “Transmission of amyloid-β pathology in humans: A perspective”. Neural Regeneration Research. 2023. DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.377610
3) Stephanie Andrade¥, Joana A. Loureiro¥, Santiago Ramirez, Celso S. G. Catumbela, Claudio Soto, Rodrigo Morales, and Maria Carmo Pereira. “Multi-dose intravenous administration of neutral and cationic liposomes in mice: an extensive toxicity study”. Pharmaceuticals. 2022; 10.3390/ph15060761. (¥Equal contribution).
2) Francisca Bravo-Risi, Paulina Soto, Thomas Eckland, Robert Dittmar, Santiago Ramirez, Celso S. G. Catumbela, Claudio Soto, Mitch Lockwood, Tracy Nichols and Rodrigo Morales. “Detection of CWD prions in naturally infected white-tailed deer fetuses and gestational tissues by PMCA”. Scientific Reports. 2021; 11:18385.
1) Unekwu Yakubu¥; Celso S. G. Catumbela¥; Rodrigo Morales* and Kevin Morano*. “Understanding and exploiting interactions between cellular proteostasis pathways and infectious prion proteins for therapeutic benefit”. Open Biology. 2020; 10: 200282. (¥Equal contribution; *Corresponding authors).