Daniela Cunha-Garcia graduated in Applied Biology from the University of Minho (UM) in 2017. Then, she volunteered as a trainee at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS, UM), working in neurodegenerative diseases, more specifically with the Machado-Joseph disease (MJD). She integrated the project entitled: “Pathogenesis and Therapeutics of Machado-Joseph disease”. Her participation in this project was focused on testing and develop therapeutic approaches for MJD. She finished her MSc in Health Sciences (University of Minho) in 2021, with the thesis entitled:” Impact of astrocytic calcium suppression in the pathogenesis of Machado-Joseph disease”. In her master thesis, she focused on the study of the involvement of (dys)functional astrocytes in the onset and progression of MJD. During these periods, she was a co-author in 2 research articles in peer-reviewed journals (Molecular Neurobiology IF=4.6 and Neuroscience IF=3.1), one of which as a second author. She also worked as a researcher in an ongoing study under the project “Determining the Efficacy of NLX-112 in a Mouse Experimental Model of Cerebellar Ataxia”. Currently she is a PhD student at the ICVS (Life and Health Sciences Research Institute), integrated in the Translational Neurogenetics research team. She is focused on exploring the involvement of muscular pathology in Machado-Joseph disease and its potential as an early biomarker of the disease.
Daniela Cunha-Garcia graduated in Applied Biology from the University of Minho (UM) in 2017. Then, she volunteered as a trainee at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS, UM), working in neurodegenerative diseases, more specifically with the Machado-Joseph disease (MJD). She integrated the project entitled: “Pathogenesis and Therapeutics of Machado-Joseph disease”. Her participation in this project was focused on testing and develop therapeutic approaches for MJD. She finished her MSc in Health Sciences (University of Minho) in 2021, with the thesis entitled:” Impact of astrocytic calcium suppression in the pathogenesis of Machado-Joseph disease”. In her master thesis, she focused on the study of the involvement of (dys)functional astrocytes in the onset and progression of MJD. During these periods, she was a co-author in 2 research articles in peer-reviewed journals (Molecular Neurobiology IF=4.6 and Neuroscience IF=3.1), one of which as a second author. She also worked as a researcher in an ongoing study under the project “Determining the Efficacy of NLX-112 in a Mouse Experimental Model of Cerebellar Ataxia”. Currently she is a PhD student at the ICVS (Life and Health Sciences Research Institute), integrated in the Translational Neurogenetics research team. She is focused on exploring the involvement of muscular pathology in Machado-Joseph disease and its potential as an early biomarker of the disease.
Articles
Monteiro-Fernandes, D., Charles, I., Guerreiro, S., Cunha-Garcia, D., Pereira-Sousa, J., Oliveira, S., Teixeira-Castro, A., Varney, M. A., Kleven, M. S., Newman-Tancredi, A., P Sheikh Abdala, A., Duarte-Silva, S., & Maciel, P. (2025). Rescue of respiratory and cognitive impairments in Rett Syndrome mice using NLX-101, a selective 5-HT1A receptor biased agonist. Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy, 186, 117989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2025.117989
Cunha-Garcia, D., Monteiro-Fernandes, D., Correia, J. S., Neves-Carvalho, A., Vilaça-Ferreira, A. C., Guerra-Gomes, S., Viana, J. F., Oliveira, J. F., Teixeira-Castro, A., Maciel, P., & Duarte-Silva, S. (2023). Genetic Ablation of Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptor Type 2 (IP3R2) Fails to Modify Disease Progression in a Mouse Model of Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(13), 10606. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241310606
Guerra-Gomes, S., Cunha-Garcia, D., Marques Nascimento, D. S., Duarte-Silva, S., Loureiro-Campos, E., Morais Sardinha, V., Viana, J. F., Sousa, N., Maciel, P., Pinto, L., & Oliveira, J. F. (2021). IP3 R2 null mice display a normal acquisition of somatic and neurological development milestones. The European Journal of Neuroscience, 54(5), 5673–5686. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14724
Esteves, S.*, Oliveira, S.*, Duarte-Silva, S., Cunha-Garcia, D., Teixeira-Castro, A., & Maciel, P. (2019). Preclinical Evidence Supporting Early Initiation of Citalopram Treatment in Machado-Joseph Disease. Molecular neurobiology, 56(5), 3626–3637. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-018-1332-1
Departing from previous work in which we developped cellular and animal models of Machado-Joseph disease, a neurodegenerative disorder caused by expansion of a polyglutamine tract in the protein ataxin-3 (ATXN3)…
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Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal
Copyright ©2025 ICVS. All Rights Reserved. Developed by TCIT
Copyright ©2025 ICVS. All Rights Reserved. Developed by TCIT
Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal
Copyright ©2025 ICVS. All Rights Reserved
Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal
