Adriana Capella

R&D and Production Director, Oxitec Brazil

Dr. Adriana Capella is the R&D and Production Director of Oxitec do Brasil Ltda since 2023 with responsibility for managing production, improving process and scaling up production volumes, defining capital investments and organizational structure to meet demand, and developing new products and methods in alignment with UK R&D team. 

Adriana received a MS in Biochemistry from the University of São Paulo in 1996, and her PhD in Plant Molecular Biology from the University of Campinas in 2001. Adriana also completed an MBA in Agribusiness at Fundação Getúlio Vargas in 2010. Adriana started her career in 2002 at a startup company, Alellyx, where she held leadership roles in Plant Genetics Transformation before becoming a Director in 2005.  Adriana moved to Monsanto through acquisition of Alellyx, where she held different leadership roles in technical areas, moving to Strategy and Operations in 2012, and becoming the Brazil Biotechnology Lead in 2015.  Adriana moved to Monsanto Headquarters in St Louis, MO in 2016. During her 4 years in St Louis, Adriana was the Strategy and Operations Lead for Trait Testing Organization in Biotech, and Project Manager for Seed Treatment products in Supply Chain. In 2020, Adriana moved back to Brazil, where she took over the role of Research and Development Director at Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira, being responsible for research, development and deployment of sugarcane conventional varieties, transgenic products, and new planting systems.

Adriana lives in Santa Bárbara do Oeste, state of São Paulo, Brazil with her husband David and stepson João Pedro.