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

Improved Classification Systems Needed for AAV, Study Shows

The autoimmune condition ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) needs improved classification systems that can better predict disease outcomes, a Spanish study says. Disease management should be based more on individual patient characteristics and levels of disease severity than on general classifications or ANCA specificities, the researchers suggest. The study, “…

Antiviral Therapy May Reduce Risk of Infection in AAV Patients, Clinical Study Suggests

Antiviral therapy prevents silent reactivation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) in ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) patients and improves patients’ immune responses, a proof-of-concept clinical study shows. These results suggest that antiviral therapy may reduce the risk of infection in these patients. The study, “Subclinical Reactivation of Cytomegalovirus Drives CD4+CD28null T-Cell Expansion…

High-dose Glucocorticoid Pulses May Improve Severe Kidney Condition of AAV Patients, Study Indicates

Patients with severe kidney injury stemming from anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) may benefit from intravenous glucocorticoid pulses, a study indicates. The high-dose treatment helped Chinese patients get off dialysis and showed a tendency toward  increasing their survival, researchers found. They published their findings in the journal BMC Nephrology.