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

FDA funds works into wearable sensors for early Huntington’s

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supporting financially a study into how well wearable sensors measure two early signs of Huntington’s disease, which could be of use to clinical trials of potential treatments. The funding comes from the agency’s Digital Health Technologies for Drug Development…

Impaired DNA repair may contribute to Huntington’s: Study

Unlike its healthy counterpart, the mutated version of the huntingtin protein that drives Huntington’s disease may keep nerve cells from repairing their damaged DNA, causing them to die, a study showed. Specifically, the mutated protein failed to stimulate the production of poly ADP-ribose, known as PAR — a molecule…

VO659 found to lower mutant HTT protein in Huntington’s patients

Vico Therapeutics’ investigational therapy VO659 was found to lower levels of the disease-causing mutant huntingtin (HTT) protein — known as mHTT — in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, of people with Huntington’s disease. Additionally, treatment was not associated with an…

Model may help develop medicines that cross blood-brain barrier

Researchers in the U.S. have created the first brain-like organoids, or mini-brains, that incorporate a working blood-brain barrier (BBB), which is the membrane that regulates which circulating substances can reach the brain and spinal cord, and that typically challenges the entry of medications. Called a BBB assembloid, the human model…

UniQure on track for discussions with FDA on advancing AMT-130

uniQure expects to begin planned discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the coming months to outline the future steps for testing its gene therapy candidate AMT-130 for early Huntington’s disease, and seeking regulatory approval of the treatment. In its interactions with the FDA, expected to…

FDA approves Ingrezza Sprinkle to treat chorea in Huntington’s

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Neurocrine Biosciences’ oral granules formulation of Ingrezza (valbenazine) — called Ingrezza Sprinkle — for treating chorea, or involuntary movements, in adults with Huntington’s disease. The new formulation, taken once per day, is designed to provide an easier administration option…

New genetic database may help in better understanding Huntington’s

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have mapped onto a genetic database nearly a million tandem repeat (TR) expansions — head-to-tail copies of short DNA sequences — to better understand how they’re linked to several human diseases, including Huntington’s. This work, the team says, may provide “critical…