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

New Virtual Management Platform Seeks to Cut Hospital Readmissions

Wellinks is investigating whether its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) virtual management program — which offers health coaching, lung rehabilitation, and monitoring through connected devices and a mobile app — can reduce hospital readmission among people with COPD. To test the platform, the healthcare company has teamed up with…

Kaleido, COPD Foundation Partner to Investigate KB109

Kaleido Biosciences is teaming up with the COPD Foundation to investigate KB109, a small compound designed to modulate the gut microbiome — the community of microbes living in the intestines — as a potential treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The decision was based on promising…

AIRFLOW-3 Trial of Targeted Lung Denervation Assigns 100th Patient

One hundred patients have been randomly assigned in Nuvaira’s pivotal AIRFLOW-3 clinical trial that will investigate the efficacy and safety of targeted lung denervation (TLD) to reduce exacerbations, or episodes of symptom worsening, of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in patients on optimal medical care. Because of the…

TrialSpark, Sanofi Strike Deal to Improve Clinical Trial Process

TrialSpark, a technology company that helps streamline the clinical trial process, has partnered with global biopharmaceutical company Sanofi to conduct clinical studies and accelerate the development of new treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). TrialSpark’s system is expected to improve the enrollment of Black and Hispanic COPD…

Cough Monitoring App for COPD Added to NuvoAir Home Platform

NuvoAir has released a new mobile app for home use, called NuvoAir Cough, that can record and analyze coughing sounds made by patients with lung conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The app is included in the NuvoAir Home platform, the company’s digital respiratory support system. Coughing…

Nebulized Ensifentrine Shows Promise as Add-on Therapy

Verona Pharma has announced positive efficacy and safety results about using nebulized ensifentrine as an add-on therapy to tiotropium (Spiriva Respimat) for treating symptomatic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Results from the Phase 2b clinical trial (NCT03937479) show that ensifentrine treatment, combined with maintenance tiotropium, results in…

Study Identifies Patient Risk Factors for In-hospital Death

Certain risk factors may accurately predict in-hospital mortality, or death, in people with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a study revealed. These factors include the need for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), having chronic heart failure, and having a low number of immune white blood cells,…

Respinova Wins FDA OK for Airway Opening System Pulsehaler

Respinova’s new airway device, called Pulsehaler, has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That means it can be marketed as a safe and effective medical device to ease breathing in people with airway restrictions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). “We…