Infectious Diseases

Maria Blasi, PhD

Medical Instructor in the Department of Medicine
Member of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute
Campus mail 2 Genome Court, Msrbii, Room 3072/B, Durham, NC 27710
Phone (919) 684-2953
Email address maria.blasi@duke.edu

Dr. Blasi completed her undergraduate and Ph.D. studies in Italy at the Sapienza University in Rome. She moved to Duke for a postdoctoral position in Mary Klotman’s laboratory at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute. Her research interests focus on two major priorities in the HIV-1 field: vaccine development and latent reservoirs/ cure studies. 

Dr. Blasi’s work encompasses several aspects of HIV-1 research, ranging from designing and testing a novel vaccine platform based on an integrase defective lentiviral vector (IDLV) in non-human primates (NHP), to the study of the kidney as a non-canonical reservoir for HIV-1.  

Education and Training

  • Ph.D., La Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), 2012

Grants

Publications

Blasi, M, Negri, D, LaBranche, C, Alam, SM, Baker, EJ, Brunner, EC, Gladden, MA, Michelini, Z, Vandergrift, NA, Wiehe, KJ, Parks, R, Shen, X, Bonsignori, M, Tomaras, GD, Ferrari, G, Montefiori, DC, Santra, S, Haynes, BF, Moody, MA, Cara, A, and Klotman, ME. "IDLV-HIV-1 Env vaccination in non-human primates induces affinity maturation of antigen-specific memory B cells." Communications Biology 1 (January 2018): 134-null.

PMID
30272013
Full Text

Veglia, F, Tyurin, VA, Mohammadyani, D, Blasi, M, Duperret, EK, Donthireddy, L, Hashimoto, A, Kapralov, A, Amoscato, A, Angelini, R, Patel, S, Alicea-Torres, K, Weiner, D, Murphy, ME, Klein-Seetharaman, J, Celis, E, Kagan, VE, and Gabrilovich, DI. "Lipid bodies containing oxidatively truncated lipids block antigen cross-presentation by dendritic cells in cancer." Nature Communications 8, no. 1 (December 14, 2017): 2122-null.

PMID
29242535
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Negri, D, Blasi, M, LaBranche, C, Parks, R, Balachandran, H, Lifton, M, Shen, X, Denny, T, Ferrari, G, Vescio, MF, Andersen, H, Montefiori, DC, Tomaras, GD, Liao, H-X, Santra, S, Haynes, BF, Klotman, ME, and Cara, A. "Immunization with an SIV-based IDLV Expressing HIV-1 Env 1086 Clade C Elicits Durable Humoral and Cellular Responses in Rhesus Macaques." Molecular Therapy : the Journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy 24, no. 11 (November 2016): 2021-2032.

PMID
27455880
Full Text

Blasi, M, Carpenter, JH, Balakumaran, B, Cara, A, Gao, F, and Klotman, ME. "Identification of HIV-1 genitourinary tract compartmentalization by analyzing the env gene sequences in urine." Aids (London, England) 29, no. 13 (August 2015): 1651-1657.

PMID
26372275
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Michelini, Z, Negri, D, Biava, M, Baroncelli, S, Spada, M, Leone, P, Bona, R, Blasi, M, Nègre, D, Klotman, ME, and Cara, A. "Murine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor expressed from a bicistronic simian immunodeficiency virus-based integrase-defective lentiviral vector does not enhance T-cell responses in mice." Viral Immunology 27, no. 10 (December 2014): 512-520.

PMID
25343523
Full Text

Blasi, M, Balakumaran, B, Chen, P, Negri, DRM, Cara, A, Chen, BK, and Klotman, ME. "Renal epithelial cells produce and spread HIV-1 via T-cell contact." Aids (London, England) 28, no. 16 (October 2014): 2345-2353.

PMID
25062092
Full Text

Taffon, S, Genovese, D, Blasi, M, Pierotti, P, Degli Esposti, A, Catone, S, Chionne, P, Pulimanti, B, Candido, A, Dettori, S, Tosti, ME, Argentini, C, Mazzotta, F, and Rapicetta, M. "HBV whole-genome mutation profile in HIV-1/HBV coinfected patients in a long-term follow-up study." Infection 42, no. 4 (August 2014): 675-687.

PMID
24700252
Full Text

Blasi, M, Balakumaran, B, Chen, P, Negri, DRM, Cara, A, Chen, BK, and Klotman, ME. "Renal epithelial cells produce and spread HIV-1 via T-cell contact." Aids 28, no. 16 (January 1, 2014): 2345-2353.

Full Text

Rossi, A, Michelini, Z, Leone, P, Borghi, M, Blasi, M, Bona, R, Spada, M, Grasso, F, Gugliotta, A, Klotman, ME, Cara, A, and Negri, D. "Optimization of mucosal responses after intramuscular immunization with integrase defective lentiviral vector." Plos One 9, no. 9 (January 2014): e107377-null.

PMID
25210766
Full Text

Bona, R, Baroncelli, S, D'Ettorre, G, Andreotti, M, Ceccarelli, G, Filati, P, Leone, P, Blasi, M, Michelini, Z, Galluzzo, CM, Mallano, A, Vullo, V, and Cara, A. "Effects of raltegravir on 2-long terminal repeat circle junctions in HIV type 1 viremic and aviremic patients." Aids Research and Human Retroviruses 29, no. 10 (October 2013): 1365-1369.

PMID
23802629
Full Text

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