Mariana Viana holds a B.Sc. in Medicinal Biotechnology from the Escola Superior de Saúde at the Instituto Politécnico do Porto. She is currently in the second year of her master’s degree in Biomedicine at the University of Minho, conducting her dissertation project at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), as part of the Translational Neurogenetics team led by Prof. Patrícia Maciel.
Her project, entitled “Dissecting the impact of TUDCA treatment on the behavior and neuropathology of Machado-Joseph disease: study in a mouse model”, focuses on testing the therapeutic potential of tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), a bile acid with neuroprotective properties, in a transgenic mouse model of Machado-Joseph disease (MJD).
Using the YAC-SCA3 mouse model, which mimics several key features of the human disorder, Mariana is evaluating the effects of chronic TUDCA treatment on motor behavior and brain pathology. Her work includes behavioral assessments, histological analysis of brain tissue (such as ATXN3 aggregation and Purkinje cell loss), and exploratory molecular studies on stress and inflammatory pathways.
Her goal is to validate TUDCA as a candidate for future clinical application and better understand its mechanisms of action in MJD.