Júlio C. M. Souza
Professor Auxiliar Convidado
Generic Bio
Júlio C. M. Souza has a dual background in dentistry (Lic./DDS) and materials science & engineering (MSc degree) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). He accomplished his PhD in biomedical engineering at the University of Minho (UMinho, Portugal) in cooperation with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven, Belgium) in 2010. Since his MSc project on the development of ceramic and metal-ceramic prostheses for dentistry, Dr. Souza has focused on the synthesis and physicochemical characterization of different biomedical materials for orthopedics, restorative dentistry, prosthodontics, and implantology. Thus, he has developed novel methods to assess the physicochemical properties of materials in contact with microrganisms under simulated oral environments. Currently, Dr. Souza is an invited assistant professor at the Faculty of Dental Medicine (FMD) at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP). Also, he is also a collaborative researcher at the Center for MicroElectroMechanical Systems (CMEMS-UMINHO). Dr. Souza has joined a scientific network involving UMinho, KULeuven, University of Illinois (USA), University of Zurich (Switzerland), UFRN, and Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). He has approved 13 projects by FCT (Portugal) or CAPES/CNPq (Brazil). In the last 3 years, Dr. Souza has worked as a research team member in 2 ongoing FCT projects, namely POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030498 FunImp, and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031035 LaserMULTICER, and 4 ongoing CAPES/CNPq projects, namely CAPES-PRINT 88887.578105/2020-00, CNPQ302071/2017-2, CNPq110831/2020-2, and MCTIC/CNPq421229/2018-7. Such strong scientific collaboration with joint projects has resulted in scientific mobility and an integration of improved methods developed by scientific research groups to improve the long-term performance of materials, engineering systems, implants, and prostheses. The following research terms can be found in the current CienciaVitae platform: titanium implants; mechanical properties; degradation of materials; zirconia; YTZP; porcelain; All-ceramic restorations; PEEK; periodic opens cellular structures; CAD-CAM technique; finite element analysis; Osseointegration; biofilms; oral bacteria; anti-biofilm; bio-tribocorrosion; surface modification; hot-pressing; direct manufacturing. Within the last 5 years, a publication rate of approximately 16 articles/year in international scientific indexed (ISI) journals has been accomplished considering advisement of PhD and MSc students on a dynamic scientific mobility in a research network. Dr. Souza was the main advisor of 36 MSc theses and 3 PhD theses as well as co-advisor in 3 PhD theses. Currently, he is the main advisor on 2 PhD and 4 MSc theses. He has published a total of 154 articles in the ISI journals (Scopus h-index of 30) such as: Acta Biomaterialia; Nanomedicine; Materials & Design; Journal of Biomedical Materials Research; Materials Science and Engineering C; Tribology International; Ceramics International; Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine; Biofouling; Wear; Journal of Dentistry; The Journal of Mechanical Behaviour of Biomedical Materials; Materials Science: Materials in Medicine; The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry; Journal of Dental Research; Journal of Dentistry. He has also been cooperating as a reviewer for the abovementioned journals. Furthermore, Dr Souza published 3 books by GrupoA, Elsevier, and Aeditora publishers. He is also an associate editor of two new journals namely Scientific Letters (IUCS, CESPU) and RevSALUS (RACS) and guest editor in Materials (MDPI).