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About
Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and a researcher at NUPIT-UFPE. Michelle's research focuses on discovering novel pharmacological options for the treatment of emotional and cognitive disorders, as well as tumor processes.
Michelle completed her postdoctoral fellowship focusing on brain reward circuits at the McGovern Medical School (UTHealth) in Houston, USA, and earned her Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology in Magdeburg, Germany. She also holds a Master's degree in Biochemistry and a Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy from UFSM. Throughout her career, she has served as a Visiting Professor at Stanford University (USA) and at the DKFZ Institute in Heidelberg (Germany).
Book
The anatomy of refusal
Anorexia nervosa is one of the most lethal psychiatric disorders—and yet, one of the least understood.
For a long time, this silence accompanied me. This book was born from the desire to break it.
As a neuroscientist and as a woman who has lived with this condition for over 25 years, I weave together memory, scientific evidence, and social reflection throughout these pages to deepen the understanding of what anorexia nervosa truly is. We explore its triggers, the factors that drive its development, and, above all, the mechanisms that sustain it over time.
But this book is not only about understanding the disorder. It is also about opening new paths forward.
I present coping strategies grounded in neuroscience and invite a necessary reflection on how everyday language, social media, and even science itself contribute to the construction—and maintenance—of distorted ideas about the body and health.
I wrote this work to challenge stigmas that still silence, delay diagnosis, and hinder access to care.
If you seek to understand what lies behind the disorder—within yourself, in someone you love, or in your professional practice—this book is for you.