HYPERTENSION AND CARDIOVASCULAR NEURONAL DYSFUNCTION
The Hypertension and Cardiovascular Neuronal Dysfunction Research Group has been developing research activity on hypertension disease and is composed by recognized experienced internist, full members of the CCUL and several co-investigators (described in the team section), including a medical geneticist.
All of the researchers are directly or indirectly linked to the Lisbon School of Medicine of the Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal and Santa Maria University Hospital, CHULN, E.P.E. The Research Group uses the facilities provided by the Department of Intern Medicine at Santa Maria University Hospital, CHULN, E.P.E. to which all members have an open access and where most of them work on a daily basis. The group is led by Prof. Carlos Moreira and Prof Braz Nogueira. Prof. Carlos Moreira is the coordinator of the Vascular Laboratory of the Intern Medicine Department. The scientific part of the project is being conducted by the Prof. Carlos Moreira and Prof. Braz Nogueira, both with particular expertise in hypertension disease and non-invasive vascular studies. The neuronal dysfunction is led by Prof Ducla Soares with great expertise in autonomic dysfunction. The projects in both areas although linked in several aspects, have different research objectives. In hypertension, we study particularly white coat hypertension and the relation of hypertension with other disease, namely, stroke, sleep apnea, chronic c hepatitis and psoriasis. The CCUL Research Group aims to contribute for a better knowledge of pathophysiology, clinical and imaging characterization and treatment of Hypertension and Cardiovascular neuronal dysfunction in several pathologies. It takes advantage of the large clinical experience and the number of patients referred to hypertension unit in intern medicine department in a tertiary hospital (CHULN) and of the expertise in the management of complex diseases such as severe hypertension and stroke.
The Research Group strongly promotes a multidisciplinary cooperation between several medical and surgical specialties as well as with the research facilities established at the CAML.
The main goal of the Unit is to develop knowledge to determine pre-treatment risk, as well as serial measures of cardiovascular integrity during and in follow-up of hypertension and others systemic diseases and to determine cardiovascular risk in neuronal dysfunction.
RESEARCH TEAM

Moreira, Carlos S. MD, PhD
GROUP LEADER
Medical Degree (1978), Lisbon School of Medicine of the Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal. Senior Intern Medicine Consultant, Coordinator of the Arsenio Cordeiro Laboratory outpatient Unit (2008-) and co-Coordinator of the inpatient Intern Medicine Unit (2019-) – Intern Medicine Department, Santa Maria Hospital, CHULN, E.P.E, Lisbon, Portugal. Ph.D (Intern Medicine) – Lisbon School of Medicine of the Universidade de Lisboa. Coordinator of outpatient Unit of department of intern medicine, President of Good Clinical Practice Commission since 2011, Consultant of Directorate-General of Health since 2010, member of Portuguese society of Hypertension. Assistant Professor of Intern Medicine – Lisbon School of Medicine of the Universidade de Lisboa (2009-). Coordinator of general Pathology at Nurse Course Catholic University. President of Commission of Auditory and Quality of Portuguese Medical Association Order (2014-2017). Member of several technical committees of Portuguese Quality Institute. Main research areas: hypertension, biomarkers of cardiovascular risk factors in diseases. ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1816-9579
E-mail: carlos.moreira@medicina.ulisboa.pt

Aguiar, Patrício Ricardo, MD, PhD
Patrício Aguiar graduated at Lisbon School of Medicine of the Universidade de Lisboa in 2006 and completed his trainee in Internal Medicine, in 2017, at Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte (CHULN, E.P.E.), Lisbon, Portugal. He completed his PhD at Lisbon School of Medicine of the Universidade de Lisboa, in 2018, in the field of inborn errors of metabolism (biomarkers of Anderson-Fabry disease) in partnership with the University College of London. He performs the evaluation and follow up of patients with inherited metabolic disorders, mainly lysosomal storage disorders. He is also member of the core team of one of the national reference center in inherited metabolic disorders (CHULN, E.P.E.), as well as member of the board of the rare diseases study group of the Portuguese Society of Internal Medicine.
His main research areas are Lysosomal Storage Disorders and Autonomic Nervous System Diseases, with several ongoing research projects on Anderson-Fabry disease (AFD) biomarkers, autonomic manifestations of AFD, immunogenicity against recombinant proteins used for enzyme replacement therapy, factors affecting quality of life in patients with type 1 Gaucher disease and neuroimaging prodromic signs of Parkinsonism in Gaucher disease. In 2014, he was awarded the prize of the Federation for the Development of Internal Medicine in Europe for research in the field of rare disorders.
He is invited lecturer of Lisbon School of Medicine of the Universidade de Lisboa and has published 22 articles in national and international peer-reviewed journals and presented more than 100 communications in national and international conferences and meetings.
E-mail: patricio.aguiar@campus.ul.pt

Alcântara, Ana Paula, MD
Completed her medical degree in 1988, at Lisbon School of Medicine of the Universidade de Lisboa. Underwent general internship in 1989 and specific residency training in Internal Medicine between 1991 and 1996 at Medicina I Department of Santa Maria Hospital, CHULN, E.P.E, Lisbon, where she developed all her clinical practice. Obtained her Consultant degree in 2008. Since 2007 is teaching medicine to medical students of Lisbon School of Medicine of the Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Her main fields of interest and research are hypertension and cardiovascular medicine (risk factores).
She has taken part in over 100 research projects, with over 28 published papers as first author and over 150 presentations in national and international meetings. She is author of 8 chapters in 6 medical books in cardiovascular medicine. She has won the Bial award in clinical investigation in 1994.
E-mail:

Alcântara, Cristina, MD

Fonseca, Inês, MD

Nascimento, Milton, MD