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Indigenous Health and Social Dynamics in Vulnerable Communities
The Instituto Dourados began when researchers from South and North America met at the Universidade Federal de Grande Dourados (UFGD), Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Dourado means golden in English, so beyond the literal translation of Instituto Dourados to the Dourados Institute, our name is a double meaning of something like “The Golden Institute”.
We recognized the need for new efforts to bring together epidemiologists and social scientists, and to connect researchers from Brazil and the United States, so they could learn from one another and strengthen scientific ties between the two largest democracies in the Americas—both with rich Indigenous cultural heritage.
In both countries, Indigenous peoples have historically suffered more acutely from disease than colonial arrivals for a variety of reasons—and continue to do so, as the COVID-19 pandemic made clear.
In response, we developed a new educational and research exchange program to connect South and North American scientists, beginning with our two institutions, UFGD and Stanford University.
Our Institute
The project builds on public health partnerships and research led by Prof. Simone Simionatto, her students, and colleagues at UFGD and beyond, which have advanced both the science and practice of public health in her community: the city of Dourados and the neighboring Dourados Indigenous Reserve.
We are currently recruiting UFGD students to work remotely with researchers in the United States, with the possibility of visits from Stanford University researchers during the 2026 academic year.
One group of participants will help document and communicate Prof. Simionatto’s work, including producing Guaraní- and Terena-language translations of this website and other Instituto Dourados materials.
Another group will advance interdisciplinary research on how social behavior shapes disease spread, contributing to improved pandemic preparedness and public health in Dourados and the surrounding Indigenous Reserve.
More Information and Updates
Learn more about how to participate here: Opportunities.
Learn more about our work: Research.
Stay informed:
Project Goals
We have two primary short-term goals for project outputs over the next few years:
Document public health conditions in the Dourados Indigenous Reserve and how science is put into practice locally. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prof. Simionatto tracked the spread of different SARS-CoV-2 variants. In ongoing work, she coordinates with hospital epidemiologists monitoring the origins and trajectories of new outbreaks to enable rapid response if the next COVID-19—or worse—emerges.
Develop computational decision-support tools for pandemic preparedness that explicitly model how social and economic factors influence disease spread.
How to Contribute
We welcome students from epidemiology, social sciences, political science, international relations, and related fields who are interested in contributing during the upcoming academic year.
If you have a research idea aligned with the project, are interested in working with us, or would like more information, please contact us: contato@projeto-dourados.org
Timeline and Deliverables
- Q1 2026: Recruit UFGD student participants; introductions; begin projects.
- Q2 2026: First journal article drafts; release short documentary films (≤3-minute videos produced with mobile phones); publish initial translations and web content.
- Q3 2026: Revise and submit manuscripts; expand documentary and outreach materials; continue collaboration.
- Q4 2026: Synthesize project outputs; assess next phases of collaboration and funding.
- 2027 and beyond: Sustain and expand the exchange program as opportunities allow.
Our Team
Our team is lean, founder-led, and execution-focused. We integrate research, education, and field deployment into a single pipeline, enabling rapid translation from theory to practice. Partnerships and internships expand capacity while keeping the work grounded in real-world impact. Interns contribute immediately, rapidly developing transferable skills and a global perspective.
Founding Directors
Founders of Instituto Dourados and current directors, they first collaborated as inaugural postdoctoral fellows at the Pandemic Preparedness Hub at Stanford Medicine. Recognizing a shared commitment to Indigenous public health—shaped by distinct technical approaches—they converged on a model that is community-based, multidisciplinary, and multilingual. Instituto Dourados was established to cultivate a critical mass of researchers and policymakers equipped to address the biological and social complexity of public health.
Dr. Izabela Mauricio de Rezende - Director of Innovation
Izabela is a virologist and Research Scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine with over six years of experience leading interdisciplinary studies on infectious disease epidemiology and virus evolution. She first connected with Instituto Dourados co-founder Matt while conducting fieldwork at the Dourados Indigenous Reserve as part of the Stanford Pandemic Preparedness Hub. Her work there focused on bridging genomic surveillance with public health interventions to better protect vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.
At the Institute, Izabela leads the recruitment and coordination of the Scientific Advisory Board, ensuring that our initiatives are grounded in rigorous research and international collaboration. She is dedicated to establishing sustainable research partnerships between local institutions, like the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), and global hubs to advance indigenous health equity.
Izabela holds a PhD in Microbiology/Virology from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, as well as a Master’s in Infectious Diseases and a B.S. in Biology from the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora.
Dr. Matthew Adam Turner - Director of Infrastructure
Matthew is a quantitative social scientist accelerating translational research to make sustainable societies the more attractive and viable choice. Sustainability includes public health: a healthy population is a prerequisite for participation in sustainable systems. He began building this infrastructure as a fellow with the Pandemic Preparedness Hub at Stanford Medicine, following the lead of Instituto Dourados co-founder and co-director, Dr. Izabela Rezende. Izabela initiated a collaboration with one of our Brazilian Faculty Leaders, Prof. Simone Simionatto.
In 2023, Matthew received the Cognitive Science Society Conference’s Diversity and Social Inequality Award for demonstrating the practical advantage of focusing education efforts in minority groups to accelerate information diffusion.
He has developed and taught courses in quantitative social science at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Matthew holds a PhD in Cognitive and Information Sciences from the University of California, Merced (2021), an MS in Applied Physics from Rice University, and a dual BS in Mathematics and Physics from Syracuse University.
Innovation and Research Interns
Student internships are our primary method for building capacity in Indigenous public health for Dourados, Brazil, and beyond. Innovation Interns focus on expanding access to our educational public health resources for residents of Indigenous Reserves. Research Interns help create and evaluate new methods, technologies, and knowledge while learning the latest science and techniques from the Directors and faculty leaders.
Mariana Barreto Alcantara - Junior Research Intern
Mariana is a first-year student at the University of California, Berkeley, double majoring in Neuroscience and Business Administration. Originally from Salvador, in the state of Bahia, Brazil, Mariana spent the past four years in the United States. She is passionate about applying the knowledge and skills gained working with Instituto Dourados to strengthen Brazilian public health. Driven by her Brazilian roots and interdisciplinary background, she is committed to bridging scientific research and community impact in Brazil.
As a Junior Research Intern, Mariana contributes to public health communications aimed at educating communities on healthy living practices and the role of scientific research in promoting well-being. Her work also spans social sciences and computational epidemiology, developing systems to visualize public health data and identify the social factors that most significantly influence disease spread across different contexts.
Brazilian Faculty Leadership
- Simone Simionatto — UFGD • ResearchGate
- Matheus de Carvalho Hernandez — UFGD • ResearchGate
Student Leaders and Contributors
- Laís Albuquerque de Oliveira — UFGD • LinkedIn
- Caio Gustavo Simonelli — UFGD • CNPq Online CV
Foundational Support
Instituto Dourados was made possible through the support of Mrs. Jill Freidenrich, whose funding provided fellowships and research support for Drs. Rezende and Turner at the Pandemic Preparedness Hub at Stanford Medicine. This support enabled Dr. Rezende to initiate collaboration with Prof. Simionatto, which Dr. Turner then joined.
