HEART FAILURE AND CARDIOMYOPATHIES
This Research Unit has been developing research activity on heart failure and cardiomyopathies. It is composed of recognized, experienced cardiologists, full members of CCUL, and several co-investigators, including a medical geneticist.
All researchers are directly or indirectly affiliated with the Lisbon School of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, and Santa Maria University Hospital – CHULN, EPE. The Research Unit uses the facilities of the Department of Cardiology at Santa Maria University Hospital, to which all members have open access and where most of them work on a daily basis.
The group is led by Prof. Dulce Brito, Head of the Cardiomyopathies Unit and Coordinator of the Heart Failure Programme of the Department of Cardiology. The scientific component of the project is being conducted by the PI and Prof. Hugo Madeira, both with particular expertise in heart failure and cardiomyopathies.
Although interconnected in several aspects, the projects in both areas have distinct research objectives. In cardiomyopathies, genetic characterization (particularly of patients with a hypertrophic phenotype) and its association with the evolutive phenotype (longitudinal data) are contributing to improved prognostic stratification and treatment of these diseases, which carry a high risk of heart failure and sudden cardiac death. In the field of heart failure, regardless of etiology, the impact of a structured follow-up and management program—beginning during hospitalization and extending into long-term care—is being evaluated, with the aim of reducing rehospitalization and mortality rates associated with the syndrome.
RESEARCH TEAM
Brito, Dulce A., MD, PhD
GROUP LEADER
Dulce Brito graduated in Medicine in 1982 at the Lisbon School of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, where she also obtained her PhD in Cardiology in 2007 with a thesis on the phenotype–genotype relationship in familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She is Senior Cardiology Consultant at Santa Maria Hospital – CHULN EPE, Lisbon, where she has coordinated the Cardiomyopathies Outpatient Unit since 2003 and co-coordinated the Inpatient Cardiology Unit since 2008. Since 2007, she has been Assistant Professor of Cardiology at the Lisbon School of Medicine and was elected Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology in 2008.
She chaired the Working Group on Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology (2009–2013), was Vice-President of the Society (2013–2015), and has contributed to several national registries and working groups, including as National Coordinator of the Portuguese Registry on Myocarditis. Her main research interests are cardiomyopathies, heart failure, and biomarkers of disease.
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1278-1847
E-mail: dulce.brito@chln.min-saude.pt
Madeira, Hugo, MD, PhD
Researcher
Hugo Madeira is a Professor of Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, and Senior Investigator at the Cardiovascular Centre of the University of Lisbon (CCUL) since 1981, where his research focuses on genotype–phenotype correlations in sarcomeric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He has also served as Chief of the Cardiology Service at Santa Maria University Hospital and was the founder and coordinator of its Outpatient Cardiomyopathy Unit.
He has held multiple academic leadership roles, including membership in the Scientific Council Committee and the University Senate. Within the Portuguese Medical Association, he was a board member of the College of Cardiology and the Ultrasound Imaging Committee, and chaired the scientific and organizing committees of the 1st National Congress on Echocardiography (1991).
In the Portuguese Society of Cardiology (PSC), he founded and chaired the Working Groups on Echocardiography and Heart Failure. He served as National Coordinator for the Euro Heart Survey on Heart Failure and ESC surveys on ACS and coronary revascularization. He was President of the PSC (2007–2009).
At the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), he was a pioneer of echocardiography in Portugal (recognized during ESC’s 50th anniversary), and played key roles in the Working Group on Heart Failure, including Secretary (1999–2002). He chaired the Scientific Committees of Heart Failure 2005 and the 1st European Congress on Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases (2011). He was also elected to the ESC Audit Committee (2009–2012).
He is the Founder and was the first President (2016–2017) of the Federation of the Portuguese-Speaking Cardiac Societies, also chairing the Scientific Committee of its inaugural congress in 2016.
ORCID: 0000-0003-4291-2289
E-mail: hcmadeira.fml.ul@sapo.pt
Nunes-Ferreira, Afonso, MD
PhD Student
Afonso Nunes-Ferreira graduated in Medicine in 2014 from the Lisbon School of Medicine, University of Lisbon. He has been undergoing Cardiology training at Santa Maria Hospital, CHULN, Lisbon, since 2016. Since 2015, he has served as a Teaching Assistant in Pathophysiology at the Lisbon School of Medicine, and since 2018 he has been a researcher at the Cardiovascular Centre of the University of Lisbon.
ORCID: 0000-0002-2836-9497
E-mail: afonso.ferreira@chln.min-saude.pt
Co-Researcher in Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics and in Cardiac rhythm abnormalities
Agostinho, João, MD
Researcher
João Agostinho graduated in Medicine in 2012 at the Faculty of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal. After completing fellowships in Chronic Heart Failure Management at Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Barcelona (2018), and in Advanced Heart Failure, Cardiac Transplant and Mechanical Ventricular Assistance at Harefield Hospital, London (2018), he became Cardiology Assistant at Santa Maria Hospital – CHULN EPE, Lisbon, in 2019. He is a member of the Heart Failure Unit (RICAHF Team) – Heart Failure Programme of the Department of Cardiology, CHULN, with special interest in heart failure and cardiomyopathies.
Since 2018, he has also been a researcher at the Cardiovascular Centre of the University of Lisbon (CCUL).
ORCID: 0000-0002-4778-5066
E-mail: joao.agostinho@chln.min-saude.pt
Mendes Pedro, Mónica, MD
Researcher
Mónica graduated in Medicine in 1991 at the Lisbon School of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, where she has been Assistant Professor since 1998. She completed her cardiology fellowship at Santa Maria Hospital – CHULN EPE, Lisbon, becoming a specialist in Cardiology in 1999, and has been working at the Department of Cardiology ever since. She was appointed Cardiology Consultant in 2012 and currently coordinates the Inpatient Cardiology Unit (since 2014), the Quality Unit of the Heart and Vessels Department (since 2017), and the Medical Internship Programme of the Department of Cardiology (since 2018). She is also a member of the Heart Failure Unit (RICAHF Team) – Heart Failure Programme.
As a researcher at the Cardiovascular Centre of the University of Lisbon (CCUL), she has authored and co-authored several scientific papers in national and international journals and presented at cardiology conferences. She has served as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator in multiple multicentre clinical trials and is an active member of the Multidisciplinary Smoking Committee of the Portuguese Society of Pulmonology and of the Board of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Risk of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology.
Areas of interest: Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathies; Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Prevention; Atherosclerosis.
E-mail: monica.pedro@chln.min-saude.pt
Aguiar-Ricardo, Inês, MD
Researcher
Medical Degree in 2013 (NOVA Medical School, Lisbon). Cardiologist at Santa Maria Hospital – CHULN, E.P.E, Lisbon since 2019. Post-graduation in Sports Medicine (Faculty of Medicine of Porto University, July 2018). Cardiology Invited Assistant, NOVA Medical School, Lisbon (2014-2016).
Areas of interest: heart failure and cardiomyopathies, cardiac rehabilitation, sports medicine.
ORCID: 0000-0002-9951-1104
E-mail: ines.ricardo@chln.min-saude.pt
Co-Researcher in Cardiovascular Exercise and Rehabilitation
Rigueira, Joana, MD
Researcher
Joana Rigueira obtained her Medical Degree in 2013 from the Lisbon School of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal. She has been working as a Cardiology Assistant at Santa Maria Hospital – CHULN, E.P.E., Lisbon, since 2020. She has been a researcher at the Cardiovascular Centre of the University of Lisbon since 2014 and was an Invited Assistant in Cardiology at the Lisbon School of Health Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, from 2016 to 2018.
Areas of interest: heart failure and cardiomyopathies, cardiovascular imaging.
ORCID: 0000-0003-1014-537X
E-mail: joana.rigueira@chln.min-saude.pt
Reis Silva, Doroteia, MD
Researcher
Doroteia graduated in Medicine in 2006 at the Lisbon School of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, and completed her cardiology training at Santa Maria Hospital – CHULN EPE, Lisbon, in 2013. She undertook a fellowship in Advanced Heart Failure and Heart Transplantation at 12 de Octubre University Hospital, Madrid, in 2012, and further completed training in Intensive Care Medicine at Santa Maria Hospital, becoming both a Cardiologist and Intensivist in 2017. She also obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Heart Failure from the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology in 2015.
Since 2010, she has been a researcher at the Cardiovascular Centre of the University of Lisbon (CCUL) and, since 2013, Invited Assistant in Cardiology at the Lisbon School of Medicine. She is the author of 18 articles in peer-reviewed journals and over 150 scientific presentations at national and international meetings.
Areas of interest: Heart failure and cardiomyopathies, intensive care, pulmonary hypertension.
ORCID: 0000-0002-7514-7053
E-mail: dojreis@hotmail.com
Pires da Cunha, Nelson, MD
Researcher
Nelson graduated in Medicine in 2015 at the Lisbon School of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, and has been undertaking cardiology training at Santa Maria Hospital – CHULN EPE, Lisbon, since 2017.
His main areas of interest include heart failure and cardiomyopathies, cardiac rehabilitation, and sports medicine.
ORCID: 0000-0001-5943-5103
E-mail: nelson.cunha@chln.min-saude.pt
Santos, Rafael, MD
Rafael graduated in Medicine in 2014 at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Lleida, Spain, and has been a cardiology resident at Santa Maria Hospital – CHULN EPE, Lisbon, since 2016. Since 2017, he has also been a researcher at the Cardiovascular Centre of the University of Lisbon (CCUL).
Areas of interest: heart failure, cardiomyopathies.
E-mail: rafael.santos@chln.min-saude.pt
Rodrigues, Tiago, MD
Tiago graduated in Medicine in 2015 at the Lisbon School of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, and has been undertaking cardiology training at Santa Maria Hospital – CHULN EPE, Lisbon, since 2017.
His main areas of interest are heart failure and cardiomyopathies.
E-mail: tiago.g.rodrigues@chln.min-saude.pt
Co-Researcher in Structural and Coronary Heart Disease
Moldovan, Oana, MD
Researcher
Oana graduated in Medicine at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, with degree recognition by the Lisbon School of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal. She is a specialist in Medical Genetics at Santa Maria Hospital – CHULN EPE, Lisbon, where she works in the Genetics Unit of the Department of Pediatrics. She performs cardiogenetic consultations for patients and families with histories of cardiovascular diseases, including congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathies, aortopathies, arrhythmic diseases, sudden cardiac death, and hereditary dyslipidemias such as familial hypercholesterolemia. She also collaborates in the Cardiomyopathy Consultation of the Department of Cardiology.
She is the author and co-author of several scientific papers published in national and international journals and presented at conferences in the field of genetics.
E-mail: moldovan.oana@gmail.com
Guimarães, Tatiana, MD
Researcher
Tatiana Guimarães obtained her Medical Degree in 2011 from the Lisbon School of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal. She has been a Cardiologist since October 2018 and is currently participating in the 3rd Postgraduate Course in Heart Failure, a joint program of the European Heart Academy of the ESC, the Heart Failure Association, and the University of Zurich.
She has been a researcher at the Cardiovascular Centre of the University of Lisbon (CCUL) since 2013 and an Invited Assistant in Cardiology at the Lisbon School of Medicine, University of Lisbon, since 2017.
Tatiana Guimarães is the author of 13 articles published in national and international journals and has delivered over 150 presentations at national and international scientific meetings.
Her main areas of interest include heart failure and cardiomyopathies, intensive care, and pulmonary hypertension.