Joana Fernandes, PhD,  —

Joana brings more than 8 years of academic research and experience as well as Scientific writing and editing to her role as a Science and Research writer. She also served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology in Coimbra, Portugal, where she also received her PhD in Health Science and Technologies, with a specialty in Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Articles by Joana Fernandes

Prana and Takeda Will Investigate PBT434 as Treatment for Gastrointestinal Damage in Parkinson’s

Prana Biotechnology and Takeda Pharmaceuticals International are teaming up to investigate whether Prana’s PBT434 can improve gastrointestinal damage associated with Parkinson’s disease. PBT434 showed promise as a treatment for neuronal loss and movement problems in mice with Parkinson’s, according to a preclinical-trial study. The collaboration will deal with…

Early Signs of Parkinson’s: The Eyes May Have It!

A new study has found that Parkinson’s disease is associated with changes in the visual system, a feature that can be detected earlier than the most common symptoms of the disease, suggesting it could be used as a biomarker to follow disease progression. The study “Visual System Involvement in Patients with…

Enzyme That May Trigger Alpha-Synuclein Aggregates and Parkinson’s Identified by Researchers

An enzyme called asparagine endopeptidase may participate in the development of Parkinson’s disease by cleaving alpha-synuclein protein into toxic fragments, according to new research. The study, “Asparagine endopeptidase cleaves α-synuclein and mediates pathologic activities in Parkinson’s disease,” was published in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. The…