Mariagrazia Pizza

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Mariagrazia Pizza
MAE
Born
Eboli, Italy
Alma materUniversity of Naples Federico II
AwardsEMBO Member (2000)[1]
Scientific career
FieldsVaccines
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]

Early life and education[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Selected publications[edit]

  • M Pizza; Vincenzo Scarlato; V Masignani; et al. (1 March 2000). "Identification of vaccine candidates against serogroup B meningococcus by whole-genome sequencing". Science. 287 (5459): 1816–1820. doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.287.5459.1816. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 10710308. Wikidata Q33892877.
  • H Tettelin; N J Saunders; J Heidelberg; et al. (1 March 2000). "Complete genome sequence of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B strain MC58". Science. 287 (5459): 1809–1815. doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.287.5459.1809. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 10710307. Wikidata Q22065549.
  • Marzia M Giuliani; Jeannette Adu-Bobie; Maurizio Comanducci; et al. (6 July 2006). "A universal vaccine for serogroup B meningococcus". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103 (29): 10834–10839. Bibcode:2006PNAS..10310834G. doi:10.1073/PNAS.0603940103. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2047628. PMID 16825336. Wikidata Q36101910.

Personal life[edit]

Pizza has two children.[9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Anon (2000). "Mariagrazia Pizza". people.embo.org. European Molecular Biology Organization. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  2. ^ a b Mariagrazia Pizza publications indexed by Google Scholar Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ a b c 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 Edit this at Wikidata
  8. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d e f g 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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