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

In-utero ERT With Lumizyme Effective in Child With Pompe

A 1-year-old toddler with infantile-onset Pompe disease has normal heart and motor function and is growing well after receiving in-utero enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with Lumizyme (alglucosidase alfa) and standard postnatal immunotherapy, according to a report. The successful outcome with Ayla is the result of the first in-utero use…

Gene Therapy Potentially Better Than ERT for Pompe, Study Shows

Gene therapy given with chaperones — specific molecules known to stabilize the structure of proteins — was found to enhance the availability of acid alpha-glucosidase, known as GAA, the missing or defective enzyme in Pompe disease (PD), in a mouse model. The treatment subsequently eased disease symptoms, with the…