At 34 years old, young Brazilian scientist Nilton Barreto dos Santos was studying how the coronavirus affects humans’ central nervous system. A part of one of the University of São Paulo’s most prestigious research teams, he was preparing for an internship at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. This year, Nilton was infected by the very disease he was studying. He spent two months in intensive care and died in August.
Naomi Munataka, 64, was born in Hiroshima, Japan, just a few years after the city was destroyed by an atomic bomb. She moved to São Paulo with...