Andrea Lobo,  —

Andrea Lobo is a Science writer at BioNews. She holds a Biology degree and a PhD in Cell Biology/Neurosciences from the University of Coimbra-Portugal, where she studied stroke biology. She was a postdoctoral and senior researcher at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health in Porto, in drug addiction, studying neuronal plasticity induced by amphetamines. As a research scientist for 19 years, Andrea participated in academic projects in multiple research fields, from stroke, gene regulation, cancer, and rare diseases. She authored multiple research papers in peer-reviewed journals. She shifted towards a career in science writing and communication in 2022.

Articles by Andrea Lobo

Inventor of device for hand mobility wins Ali Humanitarian Award

Lianna Genovese, the 25-year-old founder of Imaginable Solutions and the inventor of Guided Hands, a device that helps individuals with limited hand mobility, was recognized with the 2024 Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award. Various conditions can limit a person’s ability to write, draw, dress themselves, or use technology, including…

Sunbird Bio blood test may yield accurate Parkinson’s diagnosis

Sunbird Bio’s blood test to indirectly detect toxic clumps of alpha-synuclein protein in the brain, a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease, may help yield an accurate Parkinson’s diagnosis, according to data from a clinical study. The company presented the results in a poster, “Using neural derived EV-bound biomarkers in…

Device that assesses brain activity may help diagnose Parkinson’s

Delphi-MD, a system that measures brain activity, may be used for the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and for differentiating between its subtypes, particularly those marked by rapid disease progression, a study shows. The technology, developed by Quantalx Neuroscience, provides direct, real-time imaging of the brain’s electrical…

SandboxAQ joins MJFF initiative to target Parkinson’s LRRK2 gene

SandboxAQ has signed a $25 million research grant through an initiative of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) to develop new treatments that target the LRRK2 gene, mutations in which are one of the most common genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease. Under the partnership, which…

Motor imagery impaired in Parkinson’s patients, study finds

Besides motor challenges, people with Parkinson’s disease have difficulty with motor imagery, or generating a mental representation of a movement, a study showed. That’s particularly true for the more affected side of the body. “Even when people with Parkinson’s think about movement, it’s different for their more affected side,”…

Companies partner on customized Parkinson’s biomarker testing

A new partnership will work to develop customized assays to detect and quantify blood biomarkers to support the advancement of new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. Adx Neurosciences, which makes biomarker assays for neurodegenerative diseases, and Alamar Biosciences, a proteomics company with technology to detect…

MJFF initiative targets LRRK2 gene biomarkers, therapies

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) announced an initiative to accelerate the identification of biomarkers and the development of new therapies targeting the LRRK2 gene, one of the most common causes of inherited Parkinson’s disease. The program, LRRK2 Investigative Therapeutics Exchange, or LITE, provides “tens…

Yale to open new center for advanced research into Parkinson’s

The American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) is funding a new APDA Center for Advanced Research at Yale University’s School of Medicine, the newest of nine such centers in its U.S. network, in recognition of the school’s work into the causes and the potential for personalized treatment of Parkinson’s…

Company’s goal: Therapies to clear proteins causing Parkinson’s

Booster Therapeutics announced its launch and the start of work into therapeutics that improve the body’s ability to clear itself of the defective, disease-causing proteins that drive Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. The company, which is based in Berlin and whose opening was supported by $15 million…