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Sólveig Thorsteinsdóttir
Group LeaderI received a Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands in 1995 and I am currently leading the Extracellular Matrix in Development and Disease research group of CE3C. I am a professor in Developmental Biology and related fields at the University of Lisbon. My research focuses on understanding the molecular pathways downstream of the extracellular matrix and how they contribute to development, homeostasis and disease.
I have studied somitogenesis and skeletal muscle development for many years. In the past few years I have mostly focussed on studying the mechanisms of onset of LAMA2-congenital muscle dystrophy (LAMA2-CMD), using the mouse and cell lines as model systems. We discovered that disease onset starts during fetal development and involves impaired proliferation and myogenic differentiation. My current research is driven by three overarching objectives: 1) Identify the pathways downstream of laminin 211 that are altered at the onset of LAMA2-CMD in a mouse model of the disease; 2) Use existing and establish new mouse and human culture systems to mimic LAMA2-CMD in vitro; 3) Use in vitro approaches to inhibit or activate pathways identified as altered in the mouse model of LAMA2-CMD and assess their effect on reverting the proliferation and myogenic differentiation defects.
- Telephone: 217500000 (ext.522310)
- Email: solveig@ciencias.ulisboa.pt
- Web References: ORCID, Scopus, Google Scholar, ResearcherID
- Research Group: Extracellular Matrix in Development and Disease