Staff Fellow — Division of Biochemical Toxicology

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Camila S. Silva, Ph.D.
(870) 543-7121
NCTRResearch@fda.hhs.gov  

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About  |  Publications | Lab Members

Background

Dr. Camila Silva’s academic career began in Brazil, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in nutrition from Center University of Triângulo in 2001. She received a Master of Science in immunology and parasitology from Federal University of Uberlândia in 2006 and a Ph.D. in biomedical research from the School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo in 2010. During her Ph.D. appointment, she spent four months as a visiting scientist at the Institute of Molecular Nutrition, Technische Universität München, Germany. She joined Dr. Marli Azevedo’s laboratory at NCTR as an ORISE postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Microbiology (2010-2011) to conduct research on molecular diagnosis of human coronaviruses circulating in Arkansas during the flu season. In 2014, Dr. Silva joined NCTR’s Division of Biochemical Toxicology as an ORISE postdoctoral fellow, under Dr. Luísa Camacho’s supervision and was converted to FDA staff fellow in 2016. She conducted research on the potential use of circulating miRNAs as minimally invasive biomarkers of toxicity within the Division of Biochemical Toxicology and in collaboration with investigators in the Division of Neurotoxicology and Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics. Dr. Silva has published 11 articles in peer-reviewed journals and seven book chapters.  She received an honorable mention from the Society of Toxicology’s Molecular and Systems Biology Specialty Section Postdoctoral Fellow Research Award for the presentation of the poster entitled “Serum miRNAs as biomarkers of nephrotoxicity in female and male rats fed a diet containing melamine and cyanuric acid” at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology in 2016, and an award from the South Central Chapter of the Society of Toxicology 2016 Annual Fall Meeting for the presentation of “Serum miRNAs as biomarkers of nephrotoxicity in rats co-exposed to melamine and cyanuric acid.”

Research Interests

Currently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Silva is focused on a research project to develop a method to monitor the presence of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in local community wastewater in Arkansas using her expertise in molecular biology. This type of approach also has the potential to identify future outbreaks of COVID-19. Dr. Silva has participated in studies using animal models to assess the toxicity of products of interest to the FDA, including the dietary supplements nattokinase and lumbrokinase that are marketed to prevent blood clotting in humans due to their so-called fibrinolytic activity. Dr. Silva plays an important role in the optimization of methods, sample preparation and processing, and data analysis to support ongoing studies in the Division of Biochemical Toxicology. She has interest in researching miRNA and gene expression as molecular endpoints to assist in toxicity assessments.  

Professional Societies/National and International Groups 

Society of Toxicology 
Member
2015 – Present

South Central Chapter of the Society of Toxicology
Member
2019 – Present

Selected Publications

Data on the Effect of Heat and Other Technical Variables on the Detection of MicroRNAs in Human Serum.
Camacho L., Porter-Gill P., and Silva C.S.
Data Brief. 2019, 24:103750. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2019.103750. eCollection 2019 Jun. PMID: 30976632.

Identification of Whole Blood mRNA and microRNA Biomarkers of Tissue Damage and Immune Function Resulting from Amphetamine Exposure or Heat Stroke in Adult Male Rats.
Camacho L., Silva C.S., Hanig J.P., Schleimer R.P., George N.I., and Bowyer J.F.
PLoS One. 2019, 14(2):e0210273. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210273. eCollection 2019. PMID: 30779732.

Effects of a 28-day Dietary Co-Exposure to Melamine and Cyanuric Acid on the Levels of Serum microRNAs in Male and Female Fisher 344 Rats.
Silva C.S., Chang C.W., Williams D., Porter-Gill P., Gamboa da Costa G., and Camacho L.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2016, 98(Pt A):11-16. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2016.09.013. Epub 2016 Sep 9. PMID: 27621052.

Human Respiratory Coronaviruses Detected In Patients with Influenza-Like Illness in Arkansas, USA.
Silva C.S., Mullis L.B., Pereira O. Jr., Saif L.J., Vlasova A., Zhang X., Owens R.J., Paulson D., Taylor D., Haynes L.M., and Azevedo M.P.
Virol Mycol. 2014, (Suppl 2):004. doi: 10.4172/2161-0517.S2-004. Epub 2014 Mar 26. PMID: 27588218.

Effects of α-tocopherol Supplementation on Liver of Rats Chronically Exposed to Ethanol.
Silva C.S., Monteiro T.H., Simões-Ambrósio L.M., Sunaga D.Y., Cardoso J.F., Furtado K.S., Ong T.P., Moreno F.S., Zucoloto S., and Vannucchi H.
J Nutrigenet Nutrigenomics. 2013;6(3):125-36. doi: 10.1159/000354081. Epub 2013 Aug 10. PMID: 23942415.

Investigation on the 19S ATPase Proteasome Subunits (Rpt1-6) Conservation and Their Differential Gene Expression in Schistosoma Mansoni.
Pereira-Júnior O.S., Pereira R.V., Silva C.S., Castro-Borges W., Sá R.G., Cabral F.J., Silva S.H., Soares C.S., Morais E.R., Moreira E.B., Magalhães L.G., de Paula F.M., and Rodrigues V.
Parasitol Res. 2013, 112(1):235-42. doi: 10.1007/s00436-012-3130-4. Epub 2012 Sep 28. PMID: 23052763.

Vitamin E Alters Inflammatory Gene Expression in Alcoholic Chronic Pancreatitis.
Monteiro T.H., Silva C.S., Cordeiro Simões Ambrosio L.M., Zucoloto S., and Vannucchi H.
J Nutrigenet Nutrigenomics. 2012;5(2):94-105. doi: 10.1159/000336076. Epub 2012 Aug 8. PMID: 22890014.

Schistosoma Mansoni Encodes SMT3B and SMT3C Molecules Responsible for Post-Translational Modification of Cellular Proteins.
Cabral F.J., Pereira O.S. Jr., Silva C.S., Guerra-Sá R., and Rodrigues V.
Parasitol Int. 2008, 57(2):172-8. doi: 10.1016/j.parint.2007.12.003. Epub 2007 Dec 15. PMID: 18243776.

Schistosoma Mansoni: Gene Expression of the Nucleotide Excision Repair Factor 2 (NEF2) During the Parasite Life Cycle, and in Adult Worms After Exposure to Different DNA-Damaging Agents.
Silva C.S., Silva S.H., Pereira-Júnior O.S., Cabral F.J., Costa-Cruz J.M., and Rodrigues V.
Acta Trop. 2007, 104(1):52-62. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2007.07.006. Epub 2007 Jul 31. PMID: 17850756.

Characterization of the Gene Expression Related to the Process of DNA Damage Tolerance in Schistosoma Mansoni.
Silva S.H., Pereira-Júnior O.S., Silva C.S., Brigatto O.M., Macedo E., and Rodrigues V.
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2006, 101 Suppl 1:157-60. doi: 10.1590/s0074-02762006000900025. PMID: 17308764.

The Influence of Iron, Vitamin B(12), and Folate Levels on Soluble Transferrin Receptor Concentration in Pregnant Women.
de Azevedo Paiva A., Rondó P.H., Guerra-Shinohara E.M., and Silva C.S.
Clin Chim Acta. 2003, 334(1-2):197-203. doi: 10.1016/s0009-8981(03)00237-7. PMID: 12867292.

Lab Members

Contact Information for all lab members:
(870) 543-7121
NCTRResearch@fda.hhs.gov 

Luísa Camacho, Ph.D.
Senior Staff Fellow