Header Logo

Sandra Cristina Vicente Almeida PhD

TitleAssistant Professor
InstitutionUMass Chan Medical School
DepartmentNeurology
AddressUMass Chan Medical School
368 Plantation Street 6th Floor
Worcester MA 01605
Phone774-455-4716
vCardDownload vCard
    Other Positions
    InstitutionT.H. Chan School of Medicine
    DepartmentNeurology

    InstitutionT.H. Chan School of Medicine
    DepartmentNeuroNexus Institute


    Collapse Biography 
    Collapse education and training
    University of Coimbra, Coimbra, , PortugalBSBiochemistry
    University of Coimbra, Coimbra, , PortugalPHDCell Biology

    Collapse Overview 
    Collapse Summary
    Dr. Almeida’s primary focus is elucidating the molecular mechanisms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Her main strategy employs patient-derived, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines to generate disease-relevant neuronal cells.
    Collapse overview
    My primary research focus is on understanding the molecular mechanisms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer disease (AD). Our strategy involves the use of patient derived cellular models. To date we have generated induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from FTD and ALS/FTD patients carrying mutations in progranulin, C9ORF72, TDP-43 and MAPT, as well as lines from healthy controls. I have differentiated these iPSCs into post-mitotic cortical and motor neurons and applied a variety of approaches to uncover underlying molecular and cellular defects. This approach allows the interrogation of patient-derived neurons in the appropriate, differentiated context, leading to a better understanding of how ALS/FTD mutations impact cellular physiology, resulting in their pathogenic consequences. We are also using a gene editing approach to create CHMP2B mutant iPSCs that can be differentiated into a cellular model for the study of AD cellular pathogenesis. I am particularly interested in exploring and testing potential therapeutic interventions to halt or slow the progression of these and related diseases.


    Collapse Bibliographic 
    Collapse selected publications
    Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
    Newest   |   Oldest   |   Most Cited   |   Most Discussed   |   Timeline   |   Field Summary   |   Plain Text
    PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
    1. Rojas F, Aguilar R, Almeida S, Fritz E, Corval?n D, Ampuero E, Abarz?a S, Garc?s P, Amaro A, Diaz I, Arredondo C, Cortes N, Sanchez M, Mercado C, Varela-Nallar L, Gao FB, Montecino M, van Zundert B. Mature iPSC-derived astrocytes of an ALS/FTD patient carrying the TDP43A90V mutation display a mild reactive state and release polyP toxic to motoneurons. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023; 11:1226604. PMID: 37645251.
      Citations:    
    2. Lorenzini I, Alsop E, Levy J, Gittings LM, Lall D, Rabichow BE, Moore S, Pevey R, Bustos LM, Burciu C, Bhatia D, Singer M, Saul J, McQuade A, Tzioras M, Mota TA, Logemann A, Rose J, Almeida S, Gao FB, Marks M, Donnelly CJ, Hutchins E, Hung ST, Ichida J, Bowser R, Spires-Jones T, Blurton-Jones M, Gendron TF, Baloh RH, Van Keuren-Jensen K, Sattler R. Moderate intrinsic phenotypic alterations in C9orf72 ALS/FTD iPSC-microglia despite the presence of C9orf72 pathological features. Front Cell Neurosci. 2023; 17:1179796. PMID: 37346371.
      Citations:    
    3. Arredondo C, Cefaliello C, Dyrda A, Jury N, Martinez P, D?az I, Amaro A, Tran H, Morales D, Pertusa M, Stoica L, Fritz E, Corval?n D, Abarz?a S, M?ndez-Ruette M, Fern?ndez P, Rojas F, Kumar MS, Aguilar R, Almeida S, Weiss A, Bustos FJ, Gonz?lez-Nilo F, Otero C, Tevy MF, Bosco DA, S?ez JC, K?hne T, Gao FB, Berry JD, Nicholson K, Sena-Esteves M, Madrid R, Varela D, Montecino M, Brown RH, van Zundert B. Excessive release of inorganic polyphosphate by ALS/FTD astrocytes causes non-cell-autonomous toxicity to motoneurons. Neuron. 2022 05 18; 110(10):1656-1670.e12. PMID: 35276083.
      Citations: 16     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    4. Lee CW, Stankowski JN, Chew J, Cook CN, Lam YW, Almeida S, Carlomagno Y, Lau KF, Prudencio M, Gao FB, Bogyo M, Dickson DW, Petrucelli L. The lysosomal protein cathepsin L is a progranulin protease. Mol Neurodegener. 2017 07 25; 12(1):55. PMID: 28743268.
      Citations: 49     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    5. Silva MC, Cheng C, Mair W, Almeida S, Fong H, Biswas MHU, Zhang Z, Huang Y, Temple S, Coppola G, Geschwind DH, Karydas A, Miller BL, Kosik KS, Gao FB, Steen JA, Haggarty SJ. Human iPSC-Derived Neuronal Model of Tau-A152T Frontotemporal Dementia Reveals Tau-Mediated Mechanisms of Neuronal Vulnerability. Stem Cell Reports. 2016 09 13; 7(3):325-340. PMID: 27594585.
      Citations: 45     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    6. Kramer NJ, Carlomagno Y, Zhang YJ, Almeida S, Cook CN, Gendron TF, Prudencio M, Van Blitterswijk M, Belzil V, Couthouis J, Paul JW, Goodman LD, Daughrity L, Chew J, Garrett A, Pregent L, Jansen-West K, Tabassian LJ, Rademakers R, Boylan K, Graff-Radford NR, Josephs KA, Parisi JE, Knopman DS, Petersen RC, Boeve BF, Deng N, Feng Y, Cheng TH, Dickson DW, Cohen SN, Bonini NM, Link CD, Gao FB, Petrucelli L, Gitler AD. Spt4 selectively regulates the expression of C9orf72 sense and antisense mutant transcripts. Science. 2016 Aug 12; 353(6300):708-12. PMID: 27516603.
      Citations: 78     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    7. Swartz EW, Baek J, Pribadi M, Wojta KJ, Almeida S, Karydas A, Gao FB, Miller BL, Coppola G. A Novel Protocol for Directed Differentiation of C9orf72-Associated Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Into Contractile Skeletal Myotubes. Stem Cells Transl Med. 2016 Nov; 5(11):1461-1472. PMID: 27369896.
      Citations: 22     Fields:    
    8. Woehlbier U, Colombo A, Saaranen MJ, P?rez V, Ojeda J, Bustos FJ, Andreu CI, Torres M, Valenzuela V, Medinas DB, Rozas P, Vidal RL, Lopez-Gonzalez R, Salameh J, Fernandez-Collemann S, Mu?oz N, Matus S, Armisen R, Sagredo A, Palma K, Irrazabal T, Almeida S, Gonzalez-Perez P, Campero M, Gao FB, Henny P, van Zundert B, Ruddock LW, Concha ML, Henriquez JP, Brown RH, Hetz C. ALS-linked protein disulfide isomerase variants cause motor dysfunction. EMBO J. 2016 Apr 15; 35(8):845-65. PMID: 26869642.
      Citations: 43     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    9. Burguete AS, Almeida S, Gao FB, Kalb R, Akins MR, Bonini NM. GGGGCC microsatellite RNA is neuritically localized, induces branching defects, and perturbs transport granule function. Elife. 2015 Dec 09; 4:e08881. PMID: 26650351.
      Citations: 60     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    10. Freibaum BD, Lu Y, Lopez-Gonzalez R, Kim NC, Almeida S, Lee KH, Badders N, Valentine M, Miller BL, Wong PC, Petrucelli L, Kim HJ, Gao FB, Taylor JP. GGGGCC repeat expansion in C9orf72 compromises nucleocytoplasmic transport. Nature. 2015 Sep 03; 525(7567):129-33. PMID: 26308899.
      Citations: 451     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    11. Lee WC, Almeida S, Prudencio M, Caulfield TR, Zhang YJ, Tay WM, Bauer PO, Chew J, Sasaguri H, Jansen-West KR, Gendron TF, Stetler CT, Finch N, Mackenzie IR, Rademakers R, Gao FB, Petrucelli L. Targeted manipulation of the sortilin-progranulin axis rescues progranulin haploinsufficiency. Hum Mol Genet. 2014 Mar 15; 23(6):1467-78. PMID: 24163244.
      Citations: 45     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    12. Silva AC, Almeida S, La?o M, Duarte AI, Domingues J, Oliveira CR, Janu?rio C, Rego AC. Mitochondrial respiratory chain complex activity and bioenergetic alterations in human platelets derived from pre-symptomatic and symptomatic Huntington's disease carriers. Mitochondrion. 2013 Nov; 13(6):801-9. PMID: 23707479.
      Citations: 16     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    13. Rosenstock TR, de Brito OM, Lombardi V, Louros S, Ribeiro M, Almeida S, Ferreira IL, Oliveira CR, Rego AC. FK506 ameliorates cell death features in Huntington's disease striatal cell models. Neurochem Int. 2011 Oct; 59(5):600-9. PMID: 21703318.
      Citations: 15     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    14. Cenik B, Sephton CF, Dewey CM, Xian X, Wei S, Yu K, Niu W, Coppola G, Coughlin SE, Lee SE, Dries DR, Almeida S, Geschwind DH, Gao FB, Miller BL, Farese RV, Posner BA, Yu G, Herz J. Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (vorinostat) up-regulates progranulin transcription: rational therapeutic approach to frontotemporal dementia. J Biol Chem. 2011 May 06; 286(18):16101-8. PMID: 21454553.
      Citations: 85     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    15. Ferreira IL, Nascimento MV, Ribeiro M, Almeida S, Cardoso SM, Grazina M, Pratas J, Santos MJ, Janu?rio C, Oliveira CR, Rego AC. Mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in Huntington's disease human cybrids. Exp Neurol. 2010 Apr; 222(2):243-55. PMID: 20079354.
      Citations: 16     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    16. Almeida S, Cunha-Oliveira T, La?o M, Oliveira CR, Rego AC. Dysregulation of CREB activation and histone acetylation in 3-nitropropionic acid-treated cortical neurons: prevention by BDNF and NGF. Neurotox Res. 2010 May; 17(4):399-405. PMID: 19779956.
      Citations: 5     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    17. Almeida S, La?o M, Cunha-Oliveira T, Oliveira CR, Rego AC. BDNF regulates BIM expression levels in 3-nitropropionic acid-treated cortical neurons. Neurobiol Dis. 2009 Sep; 35(3):448-56. PMID: 19555760.
      Citations: 17     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    18. Almeida S, Sarmento-Ribeiro AB, Janu?rio C, Rego AC, Oliveira CR. Evidence of apoptosis and mitochondrial abnormalities in peripheral blood cells of Huntington's disease patients. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Oct 03; 374(4):599-603. PMID: 18625199.
      Citations: 27     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    19. Domingues A, Almeida S, da Cruz e Silva EF, Oliveira CR, Rego AC. Toxicity of beta-amyloid in HEK293 cells expressing NR1/NR2A or NR1/NR2B N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunits. Neurochem Int. 2007 May; 50(6):872-80. PMID: 17403555.
      Citations: 25     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    20. Oliveira JM, Chen S, Almeida S, Riley R, Gon?alves J, Oliveira CR, Hayden MR, Nicholls DG, Ellerby LM, Rego AC. Mitochondrial-dependent Ca2+ handling in Huntington's disease striatal cells: effect of histone deacetylase inhibitors. J Neurosci. 2006 Oct 25; 26(43):11174-86. PMID: 17065457.
      Citations: 55     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    21. Almeida S, Brett AC, G?is IN, Oliveira CR, Rego AC. Caspase-dependent and -independent cell death induced by 3-nitropropionic acid in rat cortical neurons. J Cell Biochem. 2006 May 01; 98(1):93-101. PMID: 16365893.
      Citations: 8     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    22. Almeida S, Domingues A, Rodrigues L, Oliveira CR, Rego AC. FK506 prevents mitochondrial-dependent apoptotic cell death induced by 3-nitropropionic acid in rat primary cortical cultures. Neurobiol Dis. 2004 Dec; 17(3):435-44. PMID: 15571979.
      Citations: 20     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    23. Brito O, Almeida S, Oliveira CR, Rego AC. Bcl-2 prevents loss of cell viability and caspase activation induced by 3-nitropropionic acid in GT1-7 cells. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Dec; 1010:148-52. PMID: 15033710.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    24. Gil J, Almeida S, Oliveira CR, Rego AC. Cytosolic and mitochondrial ROS in staurosporine-induced retinal cell apoptosis. Free Radic Biol Med. 2003 Dec 01; 35(11):1500-14. PMID: 14642398.
      Citations: 31     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    Almeida's Networks
    Click the
    Explore
    buttons for more information and interactive visualizations!
    Concepts (198)
    Explore
    _
    Co-Authors (1)
    Explore
    _
    Similar People (60)
    Explore
    _
    Same Department Expand Description
    Explore
    _