Learning about innovative care protocols, strengthening scientific partnerships, and sharing research developed in Rio Grande do Norte in international settings were the main objectives of the speech-language pathologist preceptor at the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD), Gizele Nascimento, who participated in an international event in Audiology and visited research and healthcare institutions in Italy.
During the month of June, Gizele participated in scientific, academic, and clinical activities in the areas of Audiology, Otoneurology, and Child Development. In addition, she participated in and presented a study developed at the ISD in [year missing]. Hearing Across the Lifespan Conference (HEAL 2026), one of the leading international events in the field of Audiology. The congress brought together researchers and professionals from various countries to discuss advances related to the diagnosis, monitoring, and rehabilitation of hearing throughout life.
The trip to Italy was made possible by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and the Associated Postgraduate Program in Speech-Language Pathology (PPgFon), to which Gizele is affiliated as a doctoral student under the guidance of professors Dr. Erika Barioni Mantello and Dr. Sheila Andreoli Balen. The program is an academic partnership between the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), and the State University of Health Sciences of Alagoas (UNCISAL).
During the event, the speech therapist presented two works, among them, “Multidisciplinary Management of Persistent Tinnitus: Integration Between Audiovestibular Assessment and Psychological Intervention with EMDR”, developed at ISD with the objective of investigating strategies for the multidisciplinary management of people with persistent tinnitus, one of the conditions attended by the multidisciplinary team of the Hearing Rehabilitation care line of the Specialized Rehabilitation Center of ISD (CER ISD).
Furthermore, Gizele also presented the work "Impact of Vestibular Function on the Neuropsychomotor Performance of Infants with Cytomegalovirus: Preliminary Results," developed at UFRN based on preliminary data from her doctoral thesis in the PPgFon program, which focuses on the neuropsychomotor performance of infants with congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, one of the main non-genetic causes of hearing loss in childhood.
According to Gizele, the event solidified the opportunity for discussions with researchers from different countries and contributed to increasing the international visibility of the research conducted in Rio Grande do Norte and at ISD, in Macaíba.
"It was especially gratifying to observe the interest of Italian researchers and professionals in the research we are conducting, particularly related to the development of children's vestibular system and the monitoring of children with hearing loss," she says.
Scientific immersion
In addition to participating in the international event, the ISD preceptor visited specialized services and Italian universities. According to her, the contact with the practices developed in these services allowed her to identify different forms of organization of specialized care, with particular emphasis on the integrated work of multidisciplinary teams.
"The meeting made it possible to identify common scientific interests and opened up prospects for future collaborations in research, academic training, and scientific exchange," Gizele points out.
Scientific immersion experiences like Gizele's reinforce the importance of encouraging the internationalization of science, so that research developed in Brazil can be boosted and complemented by centers of excellence around the world.
About ISD
The Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) is a Social Organization of the Federal Executive Branch, supervised by the Ministry of Education, with the intervention of the Ministry of Sport. It encompasses the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience and the Anita Garibaldi Center for Education and Research in Health, both located in Macaíba. The ISD's mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research, and outreach activities, as well as contributing to a more just and humane transformation of Brazilian social reality.
