João Farela Neves , director of the Department of Pediatrics at Hospital da Luz Lisboa, concluded, last May 15, his doctorate degree in Medicine (Clinical Research), at Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (Nova Medical School), Universidade Nova de Lisboa. In his thesis, that earned the unanimous approval of the jury, with honor and distinction, the physician conducted a research on primary immunodeficiencies (PID) in children, presenting pioneer data at world level, including the discovery, description and analysis of new primary immunodeficiencies. Entitled “Unravelling novel genetic and functional mechanisms of primary immunodeficiencies”, the research by João Farela Neves was done in the scope of a partnership with Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Central, the Laboratory of Immunology of Nova Medical School and the Department of Medicine of Cambridge University (United Kingdom). For his studies, the pediatrician (in the center, pictured above) used as basis cases of patients followed at Hospital Dona Estefânia , reference unit in Pediatrics for the South region of the country and islands. The jury of the doctoral dissertations concluded that João Farela Neves’ thesis “has an unrivalled importance, for its clinical relevance, pioneering and innovation”, considering not only the description of new clinical entities, done for the first time at world level, but also the clarification of new physiopathological mechanisms of primary immunodeficiencies previously described. Luís Miguel Borrego (professor at Nova Medical School and director of the Center of Allergy and Immunity at Hospital da Luz Lisboa) and Sergey Nejentsev, lead researcher of the Department of Medicine at Cambridge University (United Kingdom) were the thesis advisors. The jury of the doctoral dissertations was presided by Helena Canhão (Nova Medical School) and included Carlos Vasconcelos (Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Universidade do Porto), Celso Pais Pereira (Medicine Faculty, Universidade de Coimbra), Inês Águeda de Azevedo, Luís Manuel Varandas (Nova Medical School) and Luís Miguel Borrego. What are primary Immunodeficiencies (PID): A vast group of different diseases caused by hereditary defects, that lead to a malfunctioning of some components in the immunological system; Since their immunological systems do not function properly, people with PID are more prone to develop infections, but also self-immune or inflammatory phenomena that can be serious, recurrent or precocious; Although they are extremely rare, in overall they have significant prevalence; They are usually identified during childhood, but can be also diagnosed in adulthood; The treatment depends on the area of the immunological system affected. In the conclusions , João Farela Neves highlights, among other, that the clinical investigation in rare diseases such as PID allows to unravel the immunological mechanisms that lead to health and disease, enabling not only a better treatment and prognosis of these patients, but also a better understanding of other diseases, opening the path to new means of diagnosis and treatment. João Farela Neves is the director of the Pediatrics Department at Hospital da Luz Lisboa since 2019 and integrates the board of specialists from Hospital Dona Estefânia, in the Units of Primary Immunodeficiencies and Pediatric Intensive Care. University professor, he is the president of the Pediatric Society of Primary Immunodeficiencies (SPIDP), of the Portuguese Society of Pediatrics (SPP), integrates the executive board of the Portuguese Group of Primary Immunodeficiencies (GPIP) of the Portuguese Society of Immunology, and is a member of the board of the European Society of Primary Immunodeficiency. In Pediatrics, he as for dedicated areas primary immunodeficiencies and clinical immunology, pediatric infectology and pediatric intensive care. In the photo above, Luís Varandas, Carlos Vasconcelos, João Farela Neves, Helena Canhão and Luís Miguel Borrego (the other two members of the jury, Inês Águeda de Azevedo and Celso Pais Pereira, participated by videoconference).
