Dr Silveira’s research focuses on how perinatal and early-childhood environments can shape and modulate both health and disease across the lifespan, into old age. Her aim is to identify genetic/epigenetic markers that interact with environmental adversities in childhood, modifying endophenotypes (impulsivity, sensitivity to reward, food choices) that ultimately affect healthy growth and neurodevelopment, increasing an individual’s risk for developing chronic diseases and mental illnesses across their lifespan.

Dr Silveira obtained an MD (2001) and specialized in Paediatrics (2002-2006). She received a MSc (2004) and a PhD (2007) in Neurosciences from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship (2007–2009) in Dr Meaney´s Lab at the Douglas Institute. Before joining McGill and returning to the Douglas Institute in 2016, Dr Silveira was an Assistant Professor in the UFRGS Paediatrics Department (2009-2016) and led the externally funded lab, the DOHaD Porto Alegre group.

A paediatrician and neuroscientist with extensive research, teaching and clinical experiences, Dr Silveira has also shown significant leadership in preparing tomorrow’s research leaders, supervising over 30 PhD and MSc students and mentoring several post-doctoral fellows.

• Paulo Mathias Award – 5th International Symposium in Metabolic Programming and Stress/2nd Meeting ofthe Ibero-American DOHaD Chapter (2016)
• Danone Prize – Science on the first 1000 days – Clinical Science (2016, 2015)
• Danone Prize – Science on the first 1000 days – Basic Science (2016, 2015)
• Lundbeck Prize – World Congress on Brain, Behavior and Emotions (2015)
• David Barker Prize – 1st Meeting of Ibero-American DOHaD Chapter (2014)