Biography

Rafaela is a specialist in exercise physiology.  Since 2013 she has studied sarcopenia in rheumatic diseases. She has experience conducting clinical, experimental and translational analysis about prevalence, associated risk factor and pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments in patients with rheumatic diseases and sarcopenia. Currently, she co-leads a study group on sarcopenia in rheumatic diseases in Brazil and she is a Postdoctoral researcher in Rheumatology at Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre and Universidade Federal do rio Grande do Sul/Brazil.

ISTRC 2023 summary

Attending the International Conference on Translational Research on Sarcopenia was an immensely rewarding experience for me. Throughout the conference, I had the privilege of listening to and learning from outstanding researchers who shared their insights on sarcopenia. The workshop provided a wealth of knowledge, offering both theoretical and practical insights into new methods of characterizing skeletal muscle. Engaging in discussions on pertinent topics for both research and practice, I returned to my lab with numerous ideas—both basic and clinical research—aimed at enhancing our translational research. These ideas include addressing gaps in the literature, developing new biomarkers for sarcopenia, advancing screening methods, and exploring new pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments to prevent sarcopenia in rheumatic diseases.