Valentina Bucher
About Valentina Bucher
Valentina is a PhD candidate with Lina Bergman. Co-supervised by Joakim Ek (Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, GU) and Catherine Cluver (Stellenbosch University, South Africa). More information to the International Collaboration to Improve Outcomes for Preeclampsia
Preeclampsia affects 2-8% of pregnant women, presenting as hypertension and other organ impairment. Cerebral complications secondary to preeclampsia are among the most common causes to direct maternal mortality. In addition, women with preeclampsia run increased risk for stroke, dementia, epilepsy and cognitive failure later in life.
In her PhD project, Valentina focuses on pre-clinical and clinical studies of cerebral complications in preeclampsia. The mechanism of action behind acute cerebral complications is not fully elucidated. Therefore, Valentina studies neuroinflammatory and neurovascular mechanisms in pre-clinical in-vitro and in-vivo settings. An improved understanding of this could lead to development of more efficient treatment and hopefully a better short- and long-term prognosis for these women.
Additionally, there is a lack of reliable predictors of women at risk of cerebral complications. Valentina evaluates existing predictors for complications in preeclampsia in a systematic review and meta-analysis and evaluates angiogenic biomarkers in plasma in women with newly diagnosed preeclampsia with the aim to identify reliable predictors for end-organ complications.