Gerta Vrbová, a guide and a friend for a generation of neuro-myologists – Her scientific legacies and relations with colleagues

Published: 9 February 2021
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Gerta Sidonová - Vrbová, (Trnava, Slovakia, November 28, 1926 - London, UK, October 2, 2020) has been a key neuroscientist, who for almost half a century has contributed important findings and hypotheses on the relationships between motoneurons and skeletal muscle fibers, in particular on the differentiation and extent of plasticity of the peculiar characteristics of the different types of fibers present in mammalian muscles. This issue, Ejtm 31 (1), 2021, opens with the personal obituary authored by Dirk Pette, who remember his lifelong collaboration with Gerta, describing the many molecular and metabolic events that occur by changing the pattern of activation of adult muscle fibers through neuromuscular low frequency electrical stimulation. To honor the many scientific legacies of Gerta Vrbová and her impact on a generation of researchers studying myology and managements of neuromuscular disorders I add here additional examples of Gerta’s scientific heritage and of her relations with colleagues.

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Caroline Hilton. The Guardian, International Edition. 2020. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2020/oct/19/gerta-vrbova-obituary
Gerta Vrbová Obituary, The Times. Monday November 23 2020, 12.01am GMT, Available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/checkout?pc=INTL1MTHFR10&_ga=2.106678595.1143194066.161035 0069-418594896.1610350069
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Arpesella G, Carraro U, Mikus PM, Dozza F, Lombardi P, Marinelli G, Zampieri S, El Messlemani AH, Rossini K, Pierangeli A. Activity- rest stimulation of latissimus dorsi for cardiomyoplasty: 1-year results in sheep Ann Thorac Surg. 1998 Dec;66(6):1983-90.
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Available online at http://www.mdpi.com/2075- 4418/10/8/529/s1, Video S1: Home-based Functional Electrical Stimulation (hbFES) assisted stand-up exercise.
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Hausmanowa-Petrusewicz I, Vrbová G. Spinal muscular atrophy: a delayed development hypothesis. Neuroreport. 2005 May 12;16(7):657- 61.

How to Cite

Carraro, U. (2021). Gerta Vrbová, a guide and a friend for a generation of neuro-myologists – Her scientific legacies and relations with colleagues. European Journal of Translational Myology, 31(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2021.9670