Lindsey Shapiro, PhD, science writer —

Lindsey earned her PhD in neuroscience from Emory University in Atlanta, where she studied novel therapeutic strategies for treatment-resistant forms of epilepsy. She was awarded a fellowship from the American Epilepsy Society in 2019 for this research. Lindsey also previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher, studying the role of inflammation in epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease.

Articles by Lindsey Shapiro

Changes in metabolites may serve as blood biomarkers in SSc

Certain metabolic changes in the blood could serve as biomarkers for systemic sclerosis (SSc), according to a recent analysis. In “the largest metabolic study in SSc so far,” researchers identified metabolites — small molecules that are products of metabolism — that distinguished SSc patients from healthy adults, but were…

2 Inflammatory Biomarkers Linked to Greater Disease Activity in SSc

Elevations in two indices of body-wide inflammation are associated with greater disease activity in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients, according to a recent study. The two inflammatory markers — called the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and platelet-to-hemoglobin ratio (PHR) — were also associated with skin ulcers, and musculoskeletal and pulmonary…

Centromere Defects Linked to SSc Autoimmunity

A new study has found that defects in centromeres — specific regions of chromosomes — are evident in skin cells from people with systemic sclerosis (SSc). People with diffuse cutaneous (dcSSc) and limited cutaneous (lcSSc) forms of the disease showed specific alterations relative to healthy people, but chromosomal…