The Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) may offer a new course in the rural area of Macaíba (RN). In a meeting with the Board of Directors this Wednesday, the 23rd, the Institute's general director, Reginaldo Freitas Jr., presented the Annual Report on the Execution of the 2021 Management Contract and the proposal to create the 'Interdisciplinary Doctorate in Neuroscience and Health'. Today, the ISD offers annual openings for vacancies in the Multiprofessional Residency in Health Care for People with Disabilities (RESPCD) and in the Master's in Neuroengineering, the first in the country in these areas.

According to Edgard Morya, manager of the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience (IIN-ELS), the PhD project in Neuroscience and Health aims to expand the projects developed at the Anita Garibaldi Center for Education and Research in Health (Anita) and at IIN-ELS, ISD units in Macaíba; to articulate RESPCD and the Master's in Neuroengineering in projects with an impact on health; to train doctors capable of integrating research with existing needs in the health area; to develop innovative research for the policies of the Unified Health System (SUS); to contribute to the training of people for local and regional development through integrated clinical research work.

The ISD's general director, Reginaldo Freitas Jr., highlighted the importance of the project and asked for support from the members of the Institute's Board of Directors so that, together, they could forward the idea to the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES).

“The ISD has been very attentive to the social role that researchers need to play. And this is very important for strengthening the Unified Health System (SUS). The Doctorate is very important for us, even for the retention of our students, for them to be doctors trained by the Santos Dumont Institute and for us to retain them to work locally,” stated Reginaldo Freitas Jr.

During the presentation of the project to the eight councilors present at the virtual meeting, the general director highlighted the need for joint and coordinated action to obtain approval from CAPES, which does not yet have a date to occur.

The project to create the Doctorate in Neuroscience and Health at the Santos Dumont Institute was unanimously approved by the board members present at the meeting. They committed to drafting a document detailing the pedagogical program and submitting it to CAPES in the coming days.

Annual Report 2021

The details of the activities developed throughout 2021 within the scope of the two units of the Santos Dumont Institute, Anita and IIN-ELS, were held this Wednesday, the 23rd, for the members of the Institute's Board of Directors in a virtual meeting. With unanimous approval, the document will be forwarded to the Monitoring and Evaluation Committee of the Ministry of Education's Management Contract (CAACG/MEC).

The document contains details of the 14 indicators established by the Management Contract Administration and Monitoring Committee (CAACG/MEC). These include: scientific production authored by permanent ISD professors-researchers and/or collaborators (IIN-ELS and Anita) in indexed and qualified journals per capita; master's degree success rate; student scientific production; leveraging of funding sources; administrative costs. In addition, there was an increase in 55% services at ISD clinics compared to 2020, with almost 53 thousand in absolute numbers.

The 2021 Annual Report, when published, will be available for consultation by the entire population. It will be a document that goes beyond accountability, as it includes informative texts, QR Codes for accessing videos and nominal lists of published works, among others. “We sought to produce a report that would meet the need for accountability and that would also be an information tool for society. This report seeks to experience this characteristic”, highlighted Reginaldo Freitas Jr..

Throughout 2021, with the advancement of vaccination, ISD resumed holding events with national and international reach, such as the VII International Symposium on Neuroengineering and the IV Multidisciplinary Intervention Conference on Neurogenic Bladder. In August, the Government of Rio Grande do Norte recognized, through Law 11.012, the Santos Dumont Institute as a public utility entity, with the possibility of receiving resources via parliamentary amendments. In December, ISD won the first edition of the Viver Sem Limite Award, from the Ministry of Health, chosen as a reference institution in promoting quality healthcare through the Unified Health System (SUS).

In the same month, the Management Contract with the Ministry of Education (MEC) was renewed for another decade, valid until 2030. Among the goals included in the new Management Contract with the Ministry of Education, valid until 2030, and presented by ISD to the members of the Board of Directors, are: to go beyond regional and national borders, strengthening existing ties and establishing new ties with national and foreign institutions; to intensify integration with the National Science, Technology and Innovation System in order to attract scientific leaders who can consolidate ISD as an open and multi-user National Laboratory in a capillary manner; to expand the work in the context of people with disabilities, strengthening integrated actions between ISD units and their partners, becoming a national reference; to implement and consolidate the infrastructure of ISD units to enable the achievement of long-term institutional results; to promote entrepreneurial management focused on the integration of ISD units in teaching, research and extension activities; and seek to diversify sources of financial resources, in the public and private sectors, including abroad; establish and strengthen partnerships with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation – MCTI and the Ministry of Health – MS, given the ISD's operating profile.

The following people participated in the meeting: Reginaldo Freitas Jr., general director of ISD; Jovan Gadioli dos Santos, administrative director of ISD; Edgard Morya, manager of IIN-ELS; Lilian Lira Lisboa, manager of Anita; and Eduardo Frare, project coordinator of ISD. In addition to them, the following advisors were present: George Dantas; Fábio Larotonda; José Luiz Setubal; Helder Sousa Maranhão (as a listener indicated by advisor Amaro Sales de Araújo, president of FIERN); Theodoro Paraschiva; Francisco Vignoli; Paulo Altomare; Márcio Arruda and Vinícius Azevedo.