Since my last year in University, back in 2011, I have been
interested in autoimmune diseases - from my point of view, one of the most
challenging areas of the Medicine. During my residency, I have been working in
the Autoimmune Diseases Clinic with Dr. Jorge Martins and his team. I have also
done an internship in the Department of Autoimmune Diseases of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona with Dr. Ricard Cervera and his group, dedicated to deepen the knowledge in
autoimmune diseases, and I am a student of the Master in Autoimmune Diseases ofthe University of Barcelona.
Last June, our Autoimmune Diseases Clinic has constituted the
"Graham Hughes Centre for Autoimmune Diseases", a project long thought that came
true. I am grateful to Dr. Cervera for the opportunity to present it. The "Graham
Hughes Centre for Autoimmune Diseases" was created to promote and improve the
care provided to patients with autoimmune diseases in our island. It is also
our aim to organize meetings, collaborate with other autoimmune diseases units,
perform research projects, and contribute to the training of residents and
medical students. The consultants of the Centre include physicians of various
specialities such as Opthalmology, Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Hematology,
Neurology and Immunology.
Recently, our group organized the meeting
Madeira Lupus Clinic with the presence of Portuguese and international experts
in lupus. In addition to “An Uptdate on lupus” course for residents and
specialists, novel diagnostic, therapeutic and research issues on lupus have
been discussed in a friendly and relaxed scenario. This was also an opportunity
to promote the collaboration between autoimmune diseases units in basic and
clinical research in lupus, and strengthen the friendship relation between
their members.
I hope to meet you in the near future.
