Mariagrazia Pizza

Last updated
Mariagrazia Pizza

MAE
Born
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 ] and a Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Leicester. [3]

Awards and honours

Selected publications

Personal life

Pizza has two children. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human genome</span> Complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans

The human genome is a complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as DNA within the 23 chromosome pairs in cell nuclei and in a small DNA molecule found within individual mitochondria. These are usually treated separately as the nuclear genome and the mitochondrial genome. Human genomes include both protein-coding DNA sequences and various types of DNA that does not encode proteins. The latter is a diverse category that includes DNA coding for non-translated RNA, such as that for ribosomal RNA, transfer RNA, ribozymes, small nuclear RNAs, and several types of regulatory RNAs. It also includes promoters and their associated gene-regulatory elements, DNA playing structural and replicatory roles, such as scaffolding regions, telomeres, centromeres, and origins of replication, plus large numbers of transposable elements, inserted viral DNA, non-functional pseudogenes and simple, highly repetitive sequences. Introns make up a large percentage of non-coding DNA. Some of this non-coding DNA is non-functional junk DNA, such as pseudogenes, but there is no firm consensus on the total amount of junk DNA.

<i>Shigella</i> Genus of bacteria

Shigella is a genus of bacteria that is Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, non–spore-forming, nonmotile, rod-shaped, and is genetically closely related to Escherichia. The genus is named after Kiyoshi Shiga, who discovered it in 1897.

<i>Neisseria</i> Genus of bacteria

Neisseria is a large genus of bacteria that colonize the mucosal surfaces of many animals. Of the 11 species that colonize humans, only two are pathogens, N. meningitidis and N. gonorrhoeae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marco Marra</span> Canadian geneticist

Marco A. Marra is a Distinguished Scientist and Director of Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at the BC Cancer Research Centre and Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He also serves as UBC Canada Research Chair in Genome Science for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and is an inductee in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Marra has been instrumental in bringing genome science to Canada by demonstrating the pivotal role that genomics can play in human health and disease research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comparative genomics</span>

Comparative genomics is a field of biological research in which the genomic features of different organisms are compared. The genomic features may include the DNA sequence, genes, gene order, regulatory sequences, and other genomic structural landmarks. In this branch of genomics, whole or large parts of genomes resulting from genome projects are compared to study basic biological similarities and differences as well as evolutionary relationships between organisms. The major principle of comparative genomics is that common features of two organisms will often be encoded within the DNA that is evolutionarily conserved between them. Therefore, comparative genomic approaches start with making some form of alignment of genome sequences and looking for orthologous sequences in the aligned genomes and checking to what extent those sequences are conserved. Based on these, genome and molecular evolution are inferred and this may in turn be put in the context of, for example, phenotypic evolution or population genetics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bacterial pneumonia</span> Disease of the lungs

Bacterial pneumonia is a type of pneumonia caused by bacterial infection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toxoid</span>

A toxoid is an inactivated toxin whose toxicity has been suppressed either by chemical (formalin) or heat treatment, while other properties, typically immunogenicity, are maintained. Toxins are secreted by bacteria, whereas toxoids are altered form of toxins; toxoids are not secreted by bacteria. Thus, when used during vaccination, an immune response is mounted and immunological memory is formed against the molecular markers of the toxoid without resulting in toxin-induced illness. Such a preparation is also known as an anatoxin. There are toxoids for prevention of diphtheria, tetanus and botulism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rino Rappuoli</span> Italian immunologist (born 1952)

Rino Rappuoli is an Italian immunologist. He is the head of vaccine research and development (R&D) at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Vaccines. Previously, he has served as visiting scientist at Rockefeller University and Harvard Medical School and held roles at Sclavo, Vaccine Research and CSO, Chiron Corporation, and Novartis Vaccines.

<i>Neisseria meningitidis</i> Species of bacterium that can cause meningitis

Neisseria meningitidis, often referred to as the meningococcus, is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause meningitis and other forms of meningococcal disease such as meningococcemia, a life-threatening sepsis. The bacterium is referred to as a coccus because it is round, and more specifically a diplococcus because of its tendency to form pairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pertussis toxin</span> Group of toxins

Pertussis toxin (PT) is a protein-based AB5-type exotoxin produced by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which causes whooping cough. PT is involved in the colonization of the respiratory tract and the establishment of infection. Research suggests PT may have a therapeutic role in treating a number of common human ailments, including hypertension, viral infection, and autoimmunity.

<i>Bordetella pertussis</i> Species of bacterium causing pertussis or whooping cough

Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative, aerobic, pathogenic, encapsulated coccobacillus of the genus Bordetella, and the causative agent of pertussis or whooping cough. Like B. bronchiseptica, B. pertussis can express a flagellum-like structure, even if it has been historically categorized as a nonmotile bacteria. Its virulence factors include pertussis toxin, adenylate cyclase toxin, filamentous hæmagglutinin, pertactin, fimbria, and tracheal cytotoxin.

<i>Theileria</i> Genus of single-celled organisms

Theileria is a genus of parasites that belongs to the phylum Apicomplexa, and is closely related to Plasmodium. Two Theileria species, T. annulata and T. parva, are important cattle parasites. T. annulata causes tropical theileriosis and T. parva causes East Coast fever. Theileria species are transmitted by ticks. The genomes of T. orientalis Shintoku, Theileria equi WA, Theileria annulata Ankara and Theileria parva Muguga have been sequenced and published.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reverse vaccinology</span> Vaccine development via genomics to find antigens

Reverse vaccinology is an improvement of vaccinology that employs bioinformatics and reverse pharmacology practices, pioneered by Rino Rappuoli and first used against Serogroup B meningococcus. Since then, it has been used on several other bacterial vaccines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whole genome sequencing</span> Determining nearly the entirety of the DNA sequence of an organisms genome at a single time

Whole genome sequencing (WGS), also known as full genome sequencing, complete genome sequencing, or entire genome sequencing, is the process of determining the entirety, or nearly the entirety, of the DNA sequence of an organism's genome at a single time. This entails sequencing all of an organism's chromosomal DNA as well as DNA contained in the mitochondria and, for plants, in the chloroplast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boyce Thompson Institute</span> Independent plant-based research group at Cornell University

The Boyce Thompson Institute is an independent research institute devoted to using plant sciences to improve agriculture, protect the environment, and enhance human health. The Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) is located on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, United States, and is fully integrated in the research infrastructure of the university. Faculty at BTI are members of several Cornell Departments, including Plant Biology, Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Molecular Biology & Genetics, as well as Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology. BTI is governed by a board of directors, which is in part appointed by Cornell.

Massive parallel sequencing or massively parallel sequencing is any of several high-throughput approaches to DNA sequencing using the concept of massively parallel processing; it is also called next-generation sequencing (NGS) or second-generation sequencing. Some of these technologies emerged between 1993 and 1998 and have been commercially available since 2005. These technologies use miniaturized and parallelized platforms for sequencing of 1 million to 43 billion short reads per instrument run.

Immunomics is the study of immune system regulation and response to pathogens using genome-wide approaches. With the rise of genomic and proteomic technologies, scientists have been able to visualize biological networks and infer interrelationships between genes and/or proteins; recently, these technologies have been used to help better understand how the immune system functions and how it is regulated. Two thirds of the genome is active in one or more immune cell types and less than 1% of genes are uniquely expressed in a given type of cell. Therefore, it is critical that the expression patterns of these immune cell types be deciphered in the context of a network, and not as an individual, so that their roles be correctly characterized and related to one another. Defects of the immune system such as autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiency, and malignancies can benefit from genomic insights on pathological processes. For example, analyzing the systematic variation of gene expression can relate these patterns with specific diseases and gene networks important for immune functions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pearl Kendrick</span> American bacteriologist

Pearl Louella Kendrick was an American bacteriologist known for co-developing the first successful whooping cough vaccine alongside fellow Michigan Department of Public Health scientist Grace Eldering and chemist Loney Gordon in the 1930s. In the decades after the initial pertussis vaccine rollout, Kendrick contributed to the promotion of international vaccine standards in Latin America and the Soviet Union. Kendrick and her colleagues also developed a 3-in-1 shot for diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus called the DTP vaccine which was initially released in 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Schadt</span> American scientist

Eric Emil Schadt is an American mathematician and computational biologist. He is founder and former chief executive officer of Sema4, a patient-centered health intelligence company, and dean for precision medicine and Mount Sinai Professor in Predictive Health and Computational Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He was previously founding director of the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology and chair of the Department of Genetics and Genomics Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Martin (scientist)</span> New Zealand microbiologist (1942–2019)

Diana Rae Martin was a New Zealand microbiologist. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi from 2000, and was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to microbiology in 2008.

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
  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". Human Vaccines. 7 (8): 808–810. doi: 10.4161/hv.7.8.17637 . ISSN   1554-8600. PMID   22002174. S2CID   38618703.
  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.