Francisco Botelho

Official Title: Associate Professor | Head of the Department of Social Work

Short Bio

Born and raised in Macau, Dr. Francisco Botelho started his academic career at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) in 2005, and is currently the Head of the Department of Social Work at USJ. He holds a PhD in Physiology from the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of The University of Hong Kong (HKU), and a M.Sc in Neuroscience from the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.

Dr. Francisco Botelho received the Best Young Investigator Award for 3 consecutive years (2012-2014) in international symposiums for his work in brain plasticity and GABAergic transmission, and was appointed as Honorary Assistant Professor at HKU in 2014.

Currently, his attention focuses on the implementation of the biopsychosocial model in the healthcare system of Macau and the Greater Bay Area, in order to understand biological and psychosocial components of various disorders such as autism and devise effective treatments and therapies.

He is Honorary Advisor of the Macau Society of Registered Psychotherapists, and member of the editorial board of the American Journal of Applied Psychology.

Publications

Shi, W., Wu, L.K., Botelho, F.P., Chua, W.H., Hu, H.J., Ng, K.P., Lam, T.F., Ma, C.W., Shum, D.K.Y., Chan, Y.S. (in press) Cannabinoid overrides differential triggers of GABAergic plasticity in vestibular synapses and distorts development of navigation.

Sui, L., Botelho, F.P. (2022). Application of Berry’s Model of Acculturation to the study of Acculturation Profiles and Adaptation of Filipino Immigrants in Macau. Chinese Journal of Psychology 64(1): 91-110.

Chan, Y.S., Botelho, F.P., Ma, C.W., Shi, W., Shum, D.K.Y. (2016). Developmental plasticity of brain circuits for navigational behavior. Front. Cell. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: 14th Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry.

Chan, Y.S., Botelho, F.P., Chen, W.Q., Ma, C.W., Shi, W., Shum, D.K.Y. (2015). Developmental mechanism underlying sensorimotor control of orienting behavior. Proceedings of 6th Federation of Asian-Oceanian Neuroscience Society (FAONS) Congress and 11th Biennial Conference of Chinese Society of Neuroscience (CNS), Wuzhen, Zhejiang, China, 20-23 September 2015. In Abstracts Book, 2016, p. 140-141.

Chen, W.Q., Ma, C.W., Botelho, F.P., Lai, C.H., Shum, D.K.Y., Chan, Y.S. (2015). Early postnatal perturbation of GABAergic transmission the vestibular nucleus impacts on the spatial map and spatial navigation behaviors. Proceedings of 38th Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society (JNS 2015), Kobe, Japan, 28-31.

Ma, C.W., Lai, C.H., Han, L., Botelho, F.P., Shum, D.K.Y., Chan, Y.S. (2014) Development of neural correlates of linear motion in the rat vestibular nucleus. Acta Physiologica Sinica 66(1): 37-46.

Botelho, F.P., Lai, C.H., Chan, Y.S. (2014) BDNF advanced postnatal emergence of graviceptive behavior in rats by enhancing neonatal excitatory GABAergic transmission. Proceedings of Physiology Symposium 2014 cum Joint Scientific Conference of The Hong Kong Society of Neurosciences and The Hong Kong Biophysics Association: 35.

Jiang, Q.F., Shi, W., Botelho, F.P., Ma, C.W., Lai, C.H., Shum, D.K.Y., Chan, Y.S. (2014) Developmental modulation of long-term plasticity at vestibular GABAergic synapses. Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry, Kaohsiung, Taiwan: 130.

Chen, W.Q., Ma, C.W., Ng, K.P., Hu, H.J., Botelho, F.P., Lai, C.H., Shum, D.K.Y., Chan, Y.S. (2014) Early postnatal disturbance of inhibitory transmission in the vestibular nucleus impacts on the thalamic spatial map and navigation behaviors. Proceedings of Physiology Symposium 2014 cum Joint Scientific Conference of The Hong Kong Society of Neurosciences and The Hong Kong Biophysics Association: 61.

Chen, W.Q., Ma, C.W., Hu, H.J., Botelho, F.P., Lai, C.H., Shum, D.K.Y., Chan, Y.S. (2014) Perturbation of the plasticity at GABAeric synapses in the vestibular nucleus during a critical period impacts on the thalamic spatial network and navigation behavior. Abstracts of 9th International Symposium on Healthy Aging: Aging with Confidence: 51.

Chan, Y.S., Chen, W.Q., Ma, C.W., Shi, W., Botelho, F.P., Lai, C.H., Shum, D.K.Y. (2013) Plasticity of GABAergic synapses in the developing vestibular nucleus governs the expression of spatial navigation in mature rats. Society for Neuroscience Abstract (USA), 164.10.

Chan, Y.S., Botelho, F.P., Chen, W.Q., Shi, W., Ma, C.W., Lai, C.H., Shum, D.K.Y. (2013) Developmental assembly of neural correlates for head directions. Proceedings of International Symposium on Physiomics, p. 8. Taipei.

Chen, W.Q., Ma, C.W., Botelho, F.P., Shi, W., Lai, C.H., Shum, D.K.Y., Chan, Y.S. (2013) Perturbation of GABAergic synapses in the vestibular nucleus during a postnatal critical period impacts on the acquisition on spatial recognition. Proceedings of 10th Biennial Conference of Chinese Society for Neuroscience, S05. Beijing.

Botelho, F.P., Lai, C.H., Chan, Y.S. (2013) BDNF-mediated GABAergic transmission in the vestibular nucleus modifies developmental acquisition of graviceptive behavior. Proceedings of 37th International Congress of Union of Physiological Sciences: PCB119. Birmingham, UK.

Botelho, F.P., Lai, C.H., Shum, D.K.Y., Chan, Y.S. (2013) BDNF regulates plasticity in spatial coding. International Society of Neurochemistry Symposium on Nervous Systems and Diseases: Mechanisms and Models. Singapore.

Botelho, F.P., Hu, H.J., Lai, C.H., Chan, Y.S. (2013) Brain-derived neurotrophic factor-mediated inhibitory neurotransmission regulates developmental acquisition of graviceptive behavior in rats. Abstracts of 8th International Symposium on Healthy Aging: How to Age with Finesse: 52.

Botelho, F.P., Lai, C.H., Shum, D.K.Y., Chan, Y.S. (2012) BDNF-mediated GABAergic transmission in the rat vestibular nucleus regulates the developmental recognition of spatial orientation. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts (USA): 735.11. New Orleans, USA.

Shi, W, Botelho, F.P., Shum, D.K.Y., Chan, Y.S. (2012) Endocannabinoid regulates developmental plasticity of GABAergic synapses in the rat medial vestibular nucleus. Journal of Neurochemistry 123 (Suppl. 1): 80. [11th Biennial Meeting of Asia-Pacific Society of Neurochemistry.] Kobe, Japan.

Botelho, F.P., Lai, C.H., Chan, Y.S. (2012) Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) regulates the acquisition of vestibular-mediated spatial orientation in rats. Abstracts of Joint Scientific Meeting of The Hong Kong Society of Neurosciences & The Biophysical Society of Hong Kong: 43.

Shi, W., Botelho, F.P., Shum, D.K.Y., Chan, Y.S. (2012) Role of endocannabinoid and GABAA receptor in modulating synaptic plasticity in the vestibular nucleus of postnatal rats. Abstracts of Joint Scientific Meeting of The Hong Kong Society of Neurosciences & The Biophysical Society of Hong Kong: 68.

Botelho, F.P., Lai, C.H., Chan, Y.S. (2012) The regulatory role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor on the development of vestibular-related spatial orientation in rats. Abstracts of 7th International Symposium on Healthy Aging: Live Well, Age Well: 68.

Ng, K.P., Botelho, F.P., Lai, S.K., Chan, Y.S. (2011). Conscious and spatial navigation. In Swanson, PL (Ed.), Brain Science and Kokoro: Asian Perspectives on Science and Religion, p. 39-50. Nagoya: Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.