After graduating as a DVM in Brazil, Dr. Costa moved to Guelph, Ontario, to complete his Large Animal Internal Medicine residency and a PhD. There, he pioneered using DNA sequencing to study the equine intestinal microbiota. In 2014, he worked as a postdoc sponsored by the Brazilian government to investigate the consequences of growth promoter antibiotics on the intestinal microbiome of food animals. 

He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Montreal in Canada, working on manipulating microbiota to treat diseases and improve animal performance. He is especially interested in fecal microbiota transplantation and commensal bacteria with a high potential for colonizing the distal tract. 

Since starting his career as a professor in 2017, Dr. Costa has supervised 17 graduate students. He has published over 70 scientific articles with 3230 citations and an h-index = 26. He is an Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research and a Board member of other journals, such as Anaerobe and Pets.