iMM Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes – ENDOTARGET Project Partner
Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM) is a leading Portuguese biomedical research institute conducting basic, translational, and clinical research. iMM’s mission is to study disease mechanisms and develop novel predictive/diagnostic tests and therapeutic approaches. iMM is located in Portugal’s largest Medical Research Campus, including Lisbon Medical School (FMUL) and Santa Maria University Hospital (HSM).
The TASTY research team combines health professionals from different backgrounds, namely rheumatologists, registered dietitians, and biochemists from iMM, FMUL and HSM-CHLN. As this is a dietary trial, the Nutrition Lab of FMUL is working closely with iMM and represents a central part of the management of this study, being fully responsible for all nutrition-related methodological and logistical aspects. Prof. Catarina Sousa Guerreiro, a specialist in clinical nutrition with great expertise in the field of dietary patterns, intestinal disorders, and rheumatology, leads the team of registered dietitians/nutritionists of this trial, constituted by Sofia Charneca and Ana Hernando. The assessment of nutritional intake, dietary pattern characterization, body composition analysis and anthropometric measurements, as well as the nutritional plan implementation, will be carefully supervised and monitored by Professor Catarina Sousa Guerreiro.
The Rheumatology team at HSM (Director: Prof. João Eurico Fonseca) has already been collaborating with the Nutrition Lab of FMUL on studying the role of dietary patterns in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients in the last few years and is now responsible for patient recruitment and clinical assessment. Joaquim Pereira, a rheumatologist devoted to musculoskeletal ultrasound assessment, with great expertise in conducting clinical trials in rheumatoid arthritis, will be responsible for patient evaluation.
The Rheumatology Research Unit of iMM (João Eurico Fonseca Lab) will: evaluate the gut permeability of the patients; analyse the oral and gut microbiota; measure markers of gut integrity and inflammation and study endotoxemia. Professor Patrícia Costa Reis, a pediatric rheumatologist with great expertise in studying the connection between the gut and the chronic activation of the immune system, leads the team responsible for these tasks, formed also by the iMM researchers Inês Almada Correia and Adriana Vieira.
The collaboration of a cohesive multidisciplinary team constituted by leading professionals both in the field of Nutrition, Immunology and Rheumatology in Portugal, is essential to ensure that the study of the complex relationship between diet, gut microbiota and rheumatoid arthritis is carried out and monitored with the utmost scientific rigor in all areas of expertise.
Contact information:
Professor Catarina Sousa Guerreiro, RD, PhD
Nutrition Lab, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal
cfguerreiro@medicina.ulisboa.pt
Researcher Sofia Charneca, RD
Nutrition Lab, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Researcher Ana Hernando, MSc student
Nutrition Lab, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Professor Patrícia Costa Reis, MD PhD
Hospital de Santa Maria, Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Lisbon Medical School, Portugal
Inês Almada Correia, RD
Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Lisbon, Portugal
ines.correia@medicina.ulisboa.pt
For further information see:
https://www.medicina.ulisboa.pt/en/nutrition-laboratory
https://imm.medicina.ulisboa.pt/pt-pt/investigation/laboratories/joao-eurico-fonseca-lab-2/#intro
