Maria de Sousa
Maria de Sousa GCSE GOSE GOIH (17 October 1939 – 14 April 2020) was a Portuguese immunologist, poet and writer. She gained international recognition as a medical researcher, as the author of several seminal scientific papers: she was the first to describe thymus-dependent (or T cell) areas in 1966, a fundamental discovery in the mapping of peripheral lymphoid organs; and coined the term "ecotaxis" in 1971, to describe the phenomenon of cells of different origins to migrate and to organize among themselves in very specific lymphoid areas.[1] Later, in the 1980s she focused on the study of hereditary hemochromatosis, an iron overload genetic disease.[2]
Maria de Sousa | |
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Born | Maria Ângela Brito de Sousa 17 October 1939 Lisbon, Portugal |
Died | 14 April 2020 80) Arroios, Lisbon, Portugal | (aged
Occupation | Immunologist |
Maria de Sousa died in Lisbon on 14 April 2020, a victim of that year's coronavirus pandemic, after a week in the intensive care unit of São José Hospital.[2] Among the many top figures in Portuguese science and society that paid homage to Sousa, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, issued a statement offering his condolences to the family, referring to her as a "unmatched figure in Portuguese science" and underscoring her "inescapable legacy in science and great example in rigor, exigence, and civic and cultural commitment".[3]
Distinctions
National orders
Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry (9 June 1995)[4] Grand Officer of the Order of Saint James of the Sword (20 January 2012)[4] Grand Cross of the Order of Saint James of the Sword (18 November 2016)[4]
Selected publications
- Parrott, DMV, de Sousa, MAB, and East, J. "Thymus dependent areas in the lymphoid organs of neonatally thymectomized mice". J. Exp. Med.; l23: 191–1966.
- Parrott, DMV and De Sousa, MAB. "Changes in thymus-dependent areas of lymph nodes after immunological stimulation". Nature, 212: 1316-,1966.
- De Sousa, MAB, Parrott, DMV and Pantelouris. "Lymphoid tissues in mice with congenital aplasia of the thymus". Clin.exp.Immunol. 4: 637-,1969.
- Sousa, MD "Kinetics of distribution of thymus and marrow cells in peripheral organs of the mouse – Ecotaxis". Clin.exp.Immunol. 9: 371-,1971.
- Broxmeyer, HE, Smithyman, A, Eger, RR, Meyer, PA and De Sousa, M. "Identification of Lactoferrin as granulocyte derived inhibitor of colony stimulating activity production". J. Exp. Med. 148: 1052–1067, 1977.
- Dörner, M., Silverstone, A., Nishyia, K.,de Sostoa, A.,Munn, G and De Sousa, M. "Ferritin synthesis by Human T lymphocytes". Science, 209: 1019–1021.
- De Sousa M., Reimão, R., Lacerda, R., Hugo, P. and Kaufman. S. "Iron overload in ß2 microglobulin deficient mice". Immunol. Lett. 39: 105–111. 1994.
- Santos, M., Schilham, MW, Rademakers, LHPM, Marx, JJM, de Sousa, M. and Clevers, H. "Defective iron homeostasis in beta 2-microglobulin knockout mice recapitulates Hereditary Hemochromatosis in man". J.Exp.Med, 184: 1975–1985. 1996.
- De Almeida SF, Carvalho IF, Cardoso CS, Cordeiro JV, Azevedo JE, Neefjes J, De Sousa M. (2005) "HFE crosstalks with the MHC class I antigen presentation pathway". Blood 106:971-7.
- De Sousa, M. 2011. "An outsider's perspective-ecotaxis revisited: an integrative review of cancer environment, iron and immune system cells". Integr. Biol., 3, 343–349.
- Hoshino A, Costa-Silva B, Shen TL, et al. (2015). "Tumour exosome integrins determine organotropic metastasis". Nature 527(7578):329-35. Epub 2015 Oct 28.
References
- Duarte, Delfim. "Ever-changing homes". Porto Biomedical Journal. 4 (2): e33. doi:10.1016/j.pbj.0000000000000033. PMC 6726294. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- "Professor Maria de Sousa passed away". Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), University of Porto. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ""Uma cientista de corpo inteiro" que fazia "grandes perguntas": as reacções à morte de Maria de Sousa" ["A full-body scientist" who asked "big questions": reactions to Maria de Sousa's death]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved 16 April 2020.