Patricia InĂ¡cio, PhD, science writer —

Patricia holds her PhD in cell biology from the University Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, and has served as an author on several research projects and fellowships, as well as major grant applications for European agencies. She also served as a PhD student research assistant in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University, New York, for which she was awarded a Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) fellowship.

Articles by Patricia InĂ¡cio

Studying Epigenetic Changes May Help Diagnose Parkinson’s Disease Earlier, Researchers Say

Understanding and identifying epigenetic changes may become a potential strategy for early Parkinson’s diagnosis, when patients still lack the characteristic symptoms of the disease, according to a recent study. The study, “DNA methylation changes associated with Parkinson’s disease progression: outcomes from the first longitudinal genome-wide methylation analysis in blood,” was…

Pilot Project Tests Wrist Device That Monitors Symptoms at Home

A pilot project in the United Kingdom is testing a wrist device that is worn like a watch, called Personal Kinetigraph (PKG), to help Parkinson’s patients and their specialist healthcare providers to monitor their condition at home. The PKG, developed by Global Kinetics, will be tested in the “Developing Home-based Parkinson’s…

ProMIS to Present Data on Potential of Antibodies to Target Toxic Alpha-Synuclein in Parkinson’s

ProMIS Neurosciences will present evidence of the selectivity of several of its antibody candidates to target the toxic forms of alpha-synuclein, a key component of Lewy bodies that underlie the development of Parkinson’s disease. Neil Cashman, PhD, chief scientific officer of ProMIS, will present the study, “Targeting of Pathogenic Aggregated…

Anavex 2-73 Trial Recruitment Reaches Halfway Mark

A Phase 2 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of investigational Anavex 2-73 as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease dementia has recruited half of its targeted patients, the therapy’s developer, Anavex Life Sciences, has announced. The study is still recruiting Parkinson’s disease patients age 50 or older who have been diagnosed with…

AbbVie, Voyager Team Up to Develop Antibodies for Parkinson’s, Other Diseases

AbbVie and Voyager Therapeutics have extended their collaboration to co-develop and commercialize antibodies that target the toxic forms of alpha-synuclein to treat Parkinson’s disease and other synucleinopathies. The collaboration will combine AbbVie’s expertise in monoclonal antibodies with Voyager’s gene therapy platform to deliver antibodies across the blood-brain barrier…

ProMIS Neurosciences Develops Antibodies Targeting Toxic Forms of Alpha-Synuclein

ProMIS Neurosciences has identified several antibody candidates that specifically target the toxic forms of alpha-synuclein, a key component of Lewy bodies that underlie the development of Parkinson’s disease. In vitro (in the lab) studies have shown that ProMIS’s antibody candidates for Parkinson’s disease have a high specificity for toxic forms of…

Gene Therapy Preserves Nerve Fibers in Mouse Model of Severe Neurodegeneration

An investigational gene therapy was able to preserve nerve axons — long projections that connect nerve cells and transport information — in a mouse model of severe axonal degeneration. Because axon degeneration precedes the death of neurons in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the findings…