INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE PESQUISAS DA AMAZONIA

Their core work

INPA is Brazil's principal federal research institute dedicated to the scientific study of the Amazon basin, based in Manaus at the geographic heart of the rainforest. Their research spans tropical ecology, Amazonian biodiversity, and environmental dynamics, with a documented pharmaceutical dimension focused on drug delivery systems for tropical infectious diseases. Through MSCA-RISE staff exchange partnerships, they give European research teams direct access to Amazonian scientific infrastructure and expertise in tropical disease biology — including intracellular parasites and naturally derived pharmaceutically active compounds. Their combination of field ecology depth and laboratory pharmaceutical chemistry positions them as a gateway between Amazon natural resources and applied biomedical research.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their earliest H2020 project (ODYSSEA, 2016) was squarely environmental — studying Amazon social-ecological dynamics with no pharmaceutical dimension and no associated technical keywords. By 2017, INPA had joined VAHVISTUS, a biomedical project on nanocarrier drug delivery for intracellular parasites, marking a clear move toward applied pharmaceutical research. The trajectory suggests INPA is deliberately broadening from pure ecology into tropical disease translational research, likely drawing on Amazonian natural compounds as a source for pharmaceutically active leads.

INPA is moving toward tropical disease pharmaceutical research — particularly drug-vector nanostructures for intracellular parasites — making them an increasingly relevant partner for European consortia working on neglected tropical diseases or natural-product drug discovery.

How they like to work

INPA participates exclusively as a third-party institution under MSCA-RISE, the standard mechanism for non-EU organizations in Horizon 2020. This means they host visiting European researchers and send their own scientists to partner laboratories rather than managing EU budgets directly. With 31 unique consortium partners across 11 countries from just two projects, they operate within unusually broad international networks — a signal that their Amazonian access and scientific profile attract interest from multiple European research groups simultaneously.

Despite only two EU projects, INPA has engaged with 31 unique partners across 11 countries — a disproportionately wide network for a third-party participant. This reflects strong integration into European MSCA research mobility circuits, connecting Latin American biodiversity science with European pharmaceutical and environmental research groups.

What sets them apart

INPA offers something genuinely rare: institutional access to the Amazon itself, paired with active research in both tropical ecology and pharmaceutical drug delivery. For European consortia targeting neglected tropical diseases, Amazonian biodiversity, or Latin American field research capacity, INPA provides both geographic presence and scientific credibility in a single partner. Their third-party MSCA-RISE role makes them an efficient fit — minimal project management overhead, high scientific exchange value.

Highlights from their portfolio

• VAHVISTUS
  The most technically specific of their two projects, combining nanocarrier chemistry with tropical intracellular parasite biology — a rare intersection signalling genuine translational drug discovery capability.
• ODYSSEA
  Reflects INPA's foundational mandate as the primary scientific authority on Amazon social-ecological dynamics, a research domain unique to their geographic and institutional position.