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

Combination Therapy Improves Blood Circulation, Analysis Suggests

Combination therapy — a treatment approach used to target multiple pathways involved in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) — improves hemodynamics (blood flow) in treatment-naïve patients, according to a new pooled analysis of several studies. A measure of the resistance to blood flow, called pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), decreased significantly…

High WIF-1 Blood Levels May Suggest Poorer PH-LHD Outcomes

Levels of the Wnt inhibitory factor 1 (WIF-1) protein were elevated in the blood of people with pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with left-sided heart failure, according to a new study. WIF-1 was linked with higher levels of NT-proBNP — a marker of heart failure — as well as several…

Using Oxygen Aids Exercise in PH-HFpEF Patients Without Hypoxemia

Breathing oxygen-enriched air can significantly improve exercise performance in people with pulmonary hypertension (PH) linked to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), including those who might not use supplemental oxygen, according to a small clinical study. Better blood-oxygen levels and more efficient breathing (exchange of carbon dioxide and…

Low Oxygen Increases Chloride Levels in PASMCs in Animal Study

Higher levels of chloride in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) may contribute to the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) after exposure to low oxygen (hypoxia), a study in a rat model suggested. The study, “Increased intracellular Cl− concentration in pulmonary arterial myocytes is associated with chronic hypoxic…

Higher CDC2 Protein Levels Increase Cell Proliferation in PAH

A protein known as cell division cycle protein 2 (CDC2) enhances the proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells — those lining the walls of lung arteries — in people with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a study reported. Additionally, the increased level of CDC2 in these cells was found…


A Conversation With Rare Disease Advocates