Mariagrazia Pizza

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 that involved a genetically-detoxified pertussis toxin,^[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]

• 2000 Elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)^[1]
• 2018 Elected a Member of the Academia Europaea (MAE)^[3]
• 2023 IVI-SK bioscience Park MahnHoon Award^[11]

• 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.

Pizza has two beloved cats, Audrey and Tiffany, and two children.^[9]