Faculty

Pamela Lukasewicz Ferreira, PhD

Pamela Lukasewicz Ferreira, PhD

Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email

Education & Training

PhD
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Professional Affiliations

Member, ISTAART, Alzheimer's Association

Research Interests

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias; Neuroimaging biomarkers; Fluid biomarkers in clinical trials
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Ferreira PCL, Zhang Y, Snitz B, Chang CH, Bellaver B, Jacobsen E, Kamboh MI, Zetterberg H, Blennow K., Pascoal TA, Villemagne VL, Ganguli M, Karikari TK. Plasma biomarkers identify older adults at risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in a real-world population-based cohort. Alzheimers Dement. Oct;19(10):4507-4519. doi: 10.1002/alz.12986.
  2. Bellaver B, Povala G, Ferreira PCL, Ferrari-Souza JP, Leffa DT, Lussier FZ, Benedet AL, Ashton NJ, Triana-Baltzer G, Kolb HC, Tissot C, Therriault J, Servaes S, Stevenson J, Rahmouni N, Lopez OL, Tudorascu DL, Villemagne VL, Ikonomovic MD, Gauthier S, Zimmer ER, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Aizenstein HJ, Klunk WE, Snitz BE, Maki P, Thurston RC, Cohen AD, Ganguli M, Karikari TK, Rosa-Neto P & Pascoal TA.(2023). Astrocyte reactivity influences amyloid- effects on tau pathology in preclinical Alzheimers disease. Nat Med. May 29. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02380-x.
  3. Ferreira PCL, Ferrari-Souza JP, Tissot C, Bellaver B, Leffa DT, Lussier F, Povala G, Therriault J, Benedet AL, Ashton NJ, Cohen AD, Lopez OL, Tudorascu DL, Klunk WE, Soucy JP, Gauthier S, Villemagne V, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Rosa-Neto P, Zimmer ER, Karikari TK, & Pascoal TA for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Potential utility of plasma p-tau and neurofilament light chain as surrogate biomarkers for preventive clinical trials. Neurology. 2023 Jul 4;101(1):38-45. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207115. Epub 2023 Mar 6. PMID: 36878697; PMCID: PMC10351303.
  4. Ferreira PCL, Therriault J, Tissot C, Ferrari-Souza JP, Benedet AL, Bellaver B, Povala G, Leffa DT, Brum WS, Lussier FZ, Bezgin G, Servaes S, Vermeiren MV, Macedo A, Cabrera A, Kang MS, Tudorascu DL, Klunk WE, Villemagne VL, Cohen AD, Zimmer ER, Karikari TK, Ashton NJ, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Gauthier S, Rosa-Neto P, Pascoal TA. (2023). Plasma p-tau231 and p-tau217 inform predominantly on tau tangles accumulation in cognitively impaired individuals. Alzheimer & Dementia. 112. doi: 10.1002/alz.13393
  5. Pascoal TA, Aguzzoli CS, Lussier FZ, Crivelli L, Suemoto CK, Fortea J, Rosa-Neto P, Zimmer ER, Ferreira PCL and Bellaver B. (2024). Insights into the use of biomarkers in clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease. EBioMedicine 108: 105322. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2024.105322

JAMA Network Open: Neuropsychiatric Symptoms and Microglial Activation in Patients with Alzheimer Disease

Image of Brain

Neuropsychiatric symptoms including irritability, nighttime disturbances, and agitation are highly prevalent in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Although neuropsychiatric symptoms are clinically well characterized in individuals with Alzheimer’s, scientists have more to learn regarding these symptoms’ neurobiological underpinnings. Investigators including Cristiano Schaffer Aguzzoli, MD (former Pitt...

Alzheimer's & Dementia and Nature Aging: New Alzheimer's Disease Research

Ferrari-Souza et al. Nature Aging 2023 Authors

The Pascoal Lab (PI: Tharick Pascoal, MD, PhD; Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology) and colleagues have published recent research findings in Alzheimer's & Dementia and Nature Aging examining biomarkers and pathophysiological progression of Alzheimer's disease. “These two publications contribute to our understanding of the biomarkers and pathophysiological processes associated with the progression of...

The Department of Psychiatry Welcomes New Faculty Members Bruna Bellaver, PhD, and Pamela Lukasewicz Ferreira, PhD

Dr. Bruna Bellaver and Dr. Pamela Lukasewicz Ferreira

Pitt Psychiatry extends a warm welcome to two new faculty members: Bruna Bellaver, PhD (Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry) Dr. Bellaver earned her PhD in biological sciences: biochemistry in 2020 from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil (UFRGS). Upon completion of her doctorate, Dr. Bellaver undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at UFRGS investigating the involvement of astrocytes in...