Fábio Teixeira got his Ph.D. in Health Sciences from the Medical School of the University of Minho in 2015 in collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Production Research Facility (PPRF), University of Calgary. In February 2015, he started a post-doc position at ICVS, exploring the impact of regenerative medicine strategies and pharmacological approaches for Parkinson’s Disease (PD) treatment.

Currently, as an FCT-CEEC Assistant Researcher at i3S, he has started his own line of research in collaboration with the Center for Translational Health and Medical Biotechnology Research (TBIO), ESS|P.Porto, which is currently focused on 1) addressing the role of prodromic phases (e.g., neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression) on the progression and deterioration of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and 2) testing/developing disease-modifying strategies to intervene in PD progression, focusing on neuron-glia crosstalk and cellular, molecular, and metabolic changes that can occur in pre-clinical models and even in clinical samples, thereby aiming to address:

- the impact of specific mechanisms such as protein degradation impairment, microglial activation, and neuron-to-neuron or neuron-to-glia communication in pathogenic processes and alpha-synuclein accumulation/aggregation in PD.

- how prodromic (non-motor) dimensions, such as depression, can influence the onset and progression of PD pathology, as well as to understand the interconnection between key brain regions that are affected in this disease context, and further explore neuro- and gliotransmitters oscillations that could explain the multisystemic nature of PD.

- the efficacy of therapeutic strategies (e.g., new molecules, multimodal, and repurposing drugs, blood-brain barrier transient openings) in preventing, slowing down, or halting the pathological process underlying PD.

Finally, his team is also involved in the effort to understand the relation between the intestinal microflora and the brain (referred to as the “microbiota-gut-brain axis”), and its role in the development of neurodegenerative disorders, specifically PD. The expectation is to comprehend if the gut microbiome might be a main player (or even a therapeutic target) in a diseased context and to determine its influence on survival, disease progression, and neurochemical dysfunctions.

Research Team:

Bruna Araújo, PhD Student (FCT Fellow – 2022.13292.BD)

Carla Guedes, PhD Student (FCT Fellow – 2023.03466.BD)

Catarina Teixeira, PhD Student (FCT Fellow – 2022.12641.BD)

Joana Macedo, PhD Student (FCT Fellow – 2023.00893.BDANA)

Rita Caridade, PhD Student (FCT Fellow – 2022.13323.BD)