Marta Figueiredo, PhD, managing science editor —

Marta holds a biology degree, a master’s in evolutionary and developmental biology, and a PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Lisbon, Portugal. She was awarded a research scholarship and a PhD scholarship, and her research focused on the role of several signaling pathways in thymus and parathyroid glands embryonic development. She also previously worked as an assistant professor of an annual one-week embryology course at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Medicine.

Articles by Marta Figueiredo

Grant Backs CRISPR Therapy Research for Familial ALS

Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) have received an award from the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity to advance their preclinical research of an innovative CRISPR-based gene editing approach to treat one of the most common causes of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The two-year…

Cytokinetics Renews Partnership With The ALS Association

Cytokinetics has reaffirmed its partnership with The ALS Association in the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by continuing to support events and initiatives throughout 2021. The muscle biology biopharmaceutical company also is working to advance the clinical development of its experimental therapy reldesemtiv, designed to improve…

SOL-257 Gene Therapy Targeting TDP-43 Shows Promise in Mice

SOL-257, an experimental gene therapy developed by SOLA Biosciences, delayed disease progression and prolonged the lifespan of a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The gene therapy is designed to reduce the abnormal TDP-43 protein that forms toxic clumps in the cells of ALS patients. “Targeting only…

Boosting Cell Stress Response May Be Promising Therapy Approach

A combination of guanabenz — an approved therapy for high blood pressure — plus riluzole slowed disease progression in adults with early amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), particularly those with bulbar onset disease, a form of ALS, according to data from a Phase 2 clinical trial. Despite these promising benefits, the…

Biogen Agrees to Tofersen Access in July for Rapidly Advancing ALS

People with very rapidly progressing familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) caused by mutations in the SOD1 gene may gain early access to Biogen’s experimental therapy tofersen by mid-July, the company announced. This marks the first part of Biogen’s planned access program for tofersen, and will begin after patients initially assigned…

#AANAM – Progression May Be Evident in About 1.5 Years of Radicava Start

Editor’s note: The ALS News Today team is providing in-depth coverage of the 2021 Virtual AAN Annual Meeting, April 17–22. Go here to read the latest stories from the conference. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients require walking aids, ventilation support, and/or speech generation devices about 1.5 years after starting treatment with…