Mariagrazia Pizza

Last updated
Mariagrazia Pizza
MAE
Born
Eboli, Italy
Alma mater University of Naples Federico II
Awards EMBO Member (2000) [1]
Scientific career
Fields Vaccines
Pathogenesis [2]
Institutions

Mariagrazia Pizza MAE is an Italian vaccine researcher who is a professor at Imperial College London. [2] [4] She worked as Senior Scientific Director for Bacterial Vaccines at GSK plc. [5] [6] She was involved with the development of the first pertussis vaccine. In 2023, she was awarded the IVI-SK bioscience Park MahnHoon Award. [7]

Contents

Early life and education

Pizza was born in Eboli, Italy and lived there until 1980. [8] She studied chemistry and pharmaceutical science at the University of Naples Federico II. [9] Her dissertation used nuclear magnetic resonance to explore the structure of opioid peptides. [9] When a family member became ill, she decided to learn more about pharmaceutical design. She moved to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, where she learnt molecular biology and engineering. [9]

Research and career

Pizza has focused on the design and development of new vaccines. In 1986, she joined Sclavo, a vaccine research centre in Siena. She spent six years there, contributing to the development of the first pertussis vaccine, [9] which was able to protect infants, and was safer and more immuno-active than other pertussis vaccines on the market. [9] Sclavo was sold to Chiron, which was eventually acquired by Novartis. Motivated by their success and advances in whole genome sequencing, Pizza started working on a Meningococcal vaccine. [9] [10] She joined GSK plc in 2016. [8]

In 2023, Pizza joined the faculty at Imperial College London [ citation needed ]. She is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Leicester. [3]

Awards and honours

Selected publications

Personal life

Pizza has two children. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 Anon (2000). "Mariagrazia Pizza". people.embo.org. European Molecular Biology Organization . Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  2. 1 2 Mariagrazia Pizza publications indexed by Google Scholar OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  3. 1 2 3 Anon (2018). "Academy of Europe: Pizza Mariagrazia". ae-info.org. Academia Europaea . Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  4. ↑ Mariagrazia Pizza publications from Europe PubMed Central OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  5. ↑ Pizza, M. (2000). "Identification of Vaccine Candidates Against Serogroup B Meningococcus by Whole-Genome Sequencing". Science. 287 (5459): 1816–1820. Bibcode:2000Sci...287.1816.. doi:10.1126/science.287.5459.1816. PMID   10710308. S2CID   43349049.
  6. ↑ Pizza, Mariagrazia; Fontana, Maria Rita; Scarlato, Vincenzo; Rappuoli, Rino (1996). "Genetic Detoxification of Bacterial Toxins". Vaccine Protocols. 4: 91–110. doi:10.1385/0-89603-334-1:91. ISBN   0-89603-334-1. PMID   21359697.
  7. ↑ Mariagrazia Pizza on LinkedIn OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  8. 1 2 Pizza, Mariagrazia (August 2011). "A life passion for vaccines" (PDF). Human Vaccines. 7 (8): 808–810. doi: 10.4161/hv.7.8.17637 . ISSN   1554-8600. PMID   22002174. S2CID   38618703. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 6, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pizza, Mariagrazia (2017-01-12). "Spotlight on… Mariagrazia Pizza". FEMS Microbiology Letters. 364 (5): fnw299. doi: 10.1093/femsle/fnw299 . ISSN   1574-6968. PMID   28087618.
  10. ↑ Galvani, Rotary (2021-02-01). "Dr.ssa Mariagrazia Pizza, vaccini in tempo di pandemia". Rotary Bologna Galvani (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  11. ↑ Em, Aerie (2023-03-09). "Profs. Andrew Pollard / Sarah Gilbert and Drs. Rino Rappuoli / Mariagrazia Pizza named winners of second IVI – SK bioscience Park MahnHoon Award". IVI. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
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