Vanda Pinto, PhD, science writer —

​​Vanda is a biochemist with a PhD in biomedicine from the University of Porto, Portugal. She conducted her postdoctoral research first at the Bristol Medical School, U.K., studying the insulin-PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in diabetic nephropathy, then at the Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto, where her focus was on glycosylation in lupus nephritis and inflammatory bowel disease. She next made the switch to science publishing, handling papers in biochemistry, molecular biology, and immunology.

Articles by Vanda Pinto

New MyoCycle Models on Market After MYOLYN Wins FDA Clearance

The second version of the MyoCycle, a functional electrical stimulation (FES) bike designed for people with motor disabilities, including Parkinson’s disease, is now available in the U.S. after winning the needed go-ahead from federal regulators. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance to developer…

FDA Approves Advanced Image Guided Software Program for DBS

Boston Scientific has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Vercise Neural Navigator with STIMVIEW XT, a visualization software that allows doctors to see in real-time the location of leads, or electrodes, within the brain of a Parkinson’s disease patient undergoing deep brain stimulation…

Nitrase Therapeutics Wins MJFF Grant To Study Possible Biomarker

Nitrase Therapeutics has received a second grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) to advance the company’s research on nitrated alpha-synuclein, a new potential biomarker to help predict and diagnose Parkinson’s disease. “MJFF is the leading research accelerator for Parkinson’s disease treatments, and…

COVID-19 Hurt Emotional Well-being of Caregivers, Survey Shows

According to an online survey, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the caregivers of patients with Parkinson’s disease, with a large proportion of caregivers reporting feeling sadness and anxiety. The findings of the study, “COVID-19’s Impact on Burden and Nutrition for Family Caregivers of People With Parkinson’s Disease,”…

How Nerve Cells Damaged at Disease Onset Goal of EU Project

An almost €2 million (about $2.3 million) EU-funded project is advancing the understanding of how damaged or abnormal cell parts are removed at the synapses, a process known as synapse-specific autophagy, and how defects in this mechanism contribute to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s. Synapses,…

Grants Given to 8 ‘Blue Sky’ Research Projects at Emory, Georgia Tech

Eight grants worth a total of $575,000 were awarded by the McCamish Parkinson’s Disease Innovation Program to research teams at Georgia Tech and Emory University advancing projects into Parkinson’s disease. “These grants are specifically focused on technology-driven research for understanding, treating, and curing Parkinson’s disease,” Garrett Stanley, PhD, professor…

Way of Protecting Key Neurons in LRRK2-linked Parkinson’s Seen

In mice with a harmful mutation in the leucine-rich repeat protein kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene, one of the most common genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease, treatment with a small molecule compound restored the recycling of damaged mitochondria — the cells’ powerhouses — from dopamine-producing nerve cells. A failure…

Trial of Microbiota Transplant in Treating Patients Opens in Australia

BiomeBank is launching a trial in Australia to test whether its fecal microbiota transplantation therapy, which works to replenish gut bacteria, is a safe, tolerable and effective treatment of Parkinson’s disease symptoms, such as constipation. The trial is being conducted in collaboration with the Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth hospitals…