Pfizer Award recognizes lupus research
The scientist Salomé Pinho was recently awarded with the Pfizer 2021 Award in the clinical research category for her work in the area of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). The team discovered a new biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease that will allow doctors to intervene in a timely manner and avoid more serious outcomes such as the progressive and irreversible loss of kidney function.
In the work awarded at the 65th edition of the Pfizer Awards, the team led by Salomé Pinho demonstrated that SLE patients exhibit an atypical composition of sugars (glycans) on the surface of their kidney cells, which translates into a unique molecular signature. The researchers showed that this altered expression of glycans on the surface of kidney cells in these patients appears to be a key part of an abnormal recognition by the immune system, triggering an exacerbated inflammatory response in the kidney, characteristic of this autoimmune disease.
This biomarker, explains the researcher and leader of the group “Immunology, Cancer Glycomedicine”, “is able to predict the development of end-stage chronic kidney disease and has the potential to be included in the diagnostic and prognostic algorithm of SLE and, eventually, of other autoimmune diseases”.
With one of the highest prevalence in the world population, especially in young women of working age, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a classic autoimmune disease, with an incidence peak between 16 and 49 years of age. The impact on the quality of life of patients is significant, with renal failure being one of the most serious forms of the disease, being caused by massive infiltration of the kidneys by inflammatory cells which can progress to chronic/terminal kidney disease. It is at this stage that hemodialysis or kidney transplantation is inevitable. The early diagnosis and treatment of these patients is still a great challenge, as there are no biomarkers capable of predicting which patients will progress to a complicated disease, preventing the early identification and selection of these patients for more targeted therapies.
This work, led by Salomé Pinho, had also been rewarded with the National Award for Research in Autoimmunity, awarded by the Nucleus for the Study of Autoimmune Diseases (NEDAI) of the Portuguese Society of Internal Medicine (SPMI).
In the basic research category, the Pfizer Prize was awarded to researchers Leonor Saúde and João Taborda Barata from the João Lobo Antunes Institute of Molecular Medicine (iMM Lisbon). Leonor Saúde’s work focuses on the role of senescent cells as a promising therapy for spinal cord injuries, and João Barata’s aims to contribute to a better understanding of the biology of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
As the General Director of Pfizer Portugal said: “after an atypical period, the world has directly experienced the relevance of scientific research and its impact on our lives. In an equally special year in which we mark the 65th anniversary of the Pfizer Awards, we want to reinforce the tribute to national researchers who, with their work, greatly contribute to the development of biomedical science in Portugal”.
The Pfizer Research Awards are the result of a partnership between Pfizer and the Society of Medical Sciences of Lisbon, with the aim of contributing to the promotion of research in Health Sciences in Portugal. Established in 1956 and celebrating 65 years of existence, they are the oldest prize in the field of biomedical research in Portugal.