Pharmacist and master’s student Késsia Souza Santos, of the Molecular Modeling Laboratory (LMM) of the State University of Feira de Santana (UEFS), received on August 10, 2026 the 23rd Highlight Award in Scientific and Technological Initiation of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), in the Life Sciences area, Technological Initiation category (PIBITI). The ceremony took place at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), at the opening of the 8th Working Meeting of Institutional Representatives and Coordinators of Scientific and Technological Initiation, held on August 10 and 11.

The ceremony was attended by the president of CNPq, Olival Freire Junior, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Luciana Santos, and a representative of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

The award-winning research

The work “Artificial intelligence, deep learning and incremental construction for the development of new chemical entities acting on Mycobacterium tuberculosis” was developed during Késsia’s undergraduate studies, as a PIBITI/CNPq scholarship holder, under the supervision of professor Manoelito Coelho dos Santos Junior, coordinator of LMM.

The research integrated artificial intelligence and computational drug design tools to identify new candidates against tuberculosis. The project gave rise to K-talysticFlow (KAST), software developed at LMM that uses deep neural networks to recognize chemical patterns of compounds active against the bacterium. In a screening of about 695,000 natural products, the tool pointed to a promising candidate to inhibit the PKS13 enzyme.

The speech

During the ceremony, Késsia presented the research and highlighted the role of CNPq in her education (translated from Portuguese):

Support for scientific and technological initiation goes far beyond funding: it trains researchers, drives innovation and strengthens Brazilian science. Having developed this work with that support was essential for my academic path and for me to discover my passion for scientific research.

She also thanked her family, her supervisor, her LMM colleagues, UEFS and PPPG, and closed by saying: “Receiving this award is an honor and reinforces my commitment to keep doing science. I share this recognition with everyone who was part of this journey.”

Science made in Bahia

Today Késsia is a master’s student in the Graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PPGCF) at UEFS and remains at LMM, researching computer-aided drug discovery. The award recognizes work that began in technological initiation and reinforces the laboratory’s role in training researchers. LMM thanks CNPq, PPPG/UEFS and PPGCF for supporting the research.

Learn more

• Previous LMM news about the result
• CNPq announces the winners of the 23rd Highlight Award (in Portuguese)
• CNPq article about the project (in Portuguese)

Image: CNPq.