The goal of this project is to create a communication model that facilitates the return of scientific results to communities participating in field research and collections, focusing on Fabio Brito-Santos’ research on pathogenic fungi in the Upper Rio Negro, Amazonas. The project will develop a scientific communication strategy for urbanized indigenous peoples in hard-to-reach areas, using the fungal disease “cryptococcosis” as an initial model due to its neglected impact on human health. The project seeks to answer how to effectively return this scientific information to the community, respecting traditional knowledge and identifying the most effective communication tools to socialize science in this context, with the help of journalism adapted for greater reach outside major urban centres.

Deforestation and climate change have been linked to changes in the epidemiology of pathogenic fungi. Studies of the biodiversity of pathogenic fungi directed to a region suffering over time from the impacts of anthropization constitute a challenge in our country. Particularly in the Amazon, where there is a high occurrence of endemic mycoses, pointing to a distinct epidemiological aspect not described in other regions. Given this current scenario, to answer the question, the project will use molecular tools applied mainly to investigate microbiomes and identify the biodiversity of pathogenic fungi, also evaluating the potential of these fungi to cause outbreaks in humans and animals.