Ronaldo Avella Lavado

• Program: MSc student
• Supervisors: Dr. Julia Montgomery, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and Dr. Juan Ianowski, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology (College of Medicine) 
• Home community: São Paulo, Brazil

• BSc Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo (2022)

Ronaldo, born in São Paulo, Brazil, attended the University of São Paulo until 2022 where he obtained his degree in veterinary medicine at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science.

During his bachelor's degree, he participated in national and international research groups with a focus on equine nutrition and internal medicine — including the completion of a visiting researcher program at the University of Ghent (Belgium) in 2020. Given Ronaldo's interest in the pharmaceutical industry, he also completed internships involving clinical trials and regulatory affairs in a multinational company in 2021.

In 2022 during his last undergraduate year, he was invited as a visiting researcher at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences (University of Saskatchewan), where he returned in 2023 for his current master’s program.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a multisystemic disease that primarily affects pulmonary physiology. This project aims to compare the pH and potential pH oscillations at disease sites and healthy regions of the same lung in gut-corrected cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR)-/- swine through bronchoscopy using a custom-built flexible plastic H⁺-selective microelectrode.

This project has the potential to contribute to the understanding of airway bicarbonate secretion and airway surface liquid pH's role in the early stages of CF by comparing the pH profile at disease sites and healthy regions of the same lung.