Margarida Maia, PhD,  science writer—

Margarida is a biochemist (University of Porto, Portugal) with a PhD in biomedical sciences (VIB and KULeuven, Belgium). Her main interest is science communication. She is also passionate about design and the dialogue between art and science.

Articles by Margarida Maia

Study of Keyboard Typing as Way of Monitoring Motor Skills Planned

nQ Medical and EvergreenHealth are looking for people with early stage Parkinson’s disease to enter a monthlong study of a software tool — known as neuroQWERTY — to help track motor symptoms by monitoring how fingers interact with a computer’s keyboard. The study, expected to start in July, will enroll about 50…

NIH Awards Sinopia $3.3M to Advance Small Molecule Program

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Sinopia Biosciences $3.3 million to advance the development of its small molecule candidate for Parkinson’s disease. Sinopia will use the grant to move the small molecule forward through investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies. An IND is a medicine that has…

Smartwatch Could Help Patients Manage Blood Pressure Drops

Tracking blood pressure with a smartwatch could help people with Parkinson’s disease manage the sudden drop in blood pressure — called orthostatic hypotension — that can occur when changing positions, according to a study by researchers at the Samsung Medical Center, in South Korea. Measurements obtained with Samsung’s…

Walking Program Adds to Benefits of Respiratory Muscle Training

A walking program seems to boost the benefits of respiratory muscle training — which consists of specific exercises designed to improve the function of muscles used in breathing — in people with Parkinson’s disease, a small study has found. In the study, patients who followed an eight-week walking program…

Grant Supports Potential Disease-modifying Parkinson’s Therapies

The Silverstein Foundation for Parkinson’s with GBA is supporting early work by AcureX Therapeutics to bring into patient testing potential disease-modifying treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, grant funding will go to advance the development of small molecule compounds targeting the path involving a specific protein in mitochondria — the…

Bial to Market in Europe Sublingual Film for ‘Off’ Periods, If Approved

Bial has entered into an exclusive agreement to market upon approval in Europe APL-130277 — Sunovion Pharmaceuticals‘ sublingual (under the tongue) film of apomorphine for off episodes in Parkinson’s disease. Under the agreement’s terms, Bial will be responsible for preparing a marketing authorization application for regulatory agencies there — drawing on…

Transcranial Stimulation With Exercise May Boost Benefits for Patients

Transcranial stimulation — a noninvasive procedure that sends low-level electric currents to certain brain regions — may boost the benefits of aerobic exercise and improve gait for people with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, a small study reports. “We found that transcranial stimulation activated the pre-frontal cortex, a brain region that Parkinson’s…

Dosing Completed in Phase 2a Trial of ANVS401

Patient dosing has been completed in the Phase 2a clinical trial testing ANVS401, Annovis Bio’s investigational therapy for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. An additional 40 patients with Parkinson’s disease were treated with ANVS401, with the company now preparing to share final safety and efficacy data later this year. According to…