Infectious Diseases

Maria Blasi, PhD

Assistant Professor in 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

Veglia, Filippo, Vladimir A. Tyurin, Maria Blasi, Alessandra De Leo, Andrew V. Kossenkov, Laxminarasimha Donthireddy, Tsun Ki Jerrick To, et al. “Fatty acid transport protein 2 reprograms neutrophils in cancer..” Nature 569, no. 7754 (May 2019): 73–78. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1118-2.

PMID
30996346
Full Text

Blasi, Maria, Donatella Negri, Celia LaBranche, S Munir Alam, Erich J. Baker, Elizabeth C. Brunner, Morgan A. Gladden, et al. “IDLV-HIV-1 Env vaccination in non-human primates induces affinity maturation of antigen-specific memory B cells..” Commun Biol 1 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-018-0131-6.

PMID
30272013
Full Text

Veglia, Filippo, Vladimir A. Tyurin, Dariush Mohammadyani, Maria Blasi, Elizabeth K. Duperret, Laxminarasimha Donthireddy, Ayumi Hashimoto, et al. “Lipid bodies containing oxidatively truncated lipids block antigen cross-presentation by dendritic cells in cancer..” Nat Commun 8, no. 1 (December 14, 2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02186-9.

PMID
29242535
Full Text

Negri, Donatella, Maria Blasi, Celia LaBranche, Robert Parks, Harikrishnan Balachandran, Michelle Lifton, Xiaoying Shen, et al. “Immunization with an SIV-based IDLV Expressing HIV-1 Env 1086 Clade C Elicits Durable Humoral and Cellular Responses in Rhesus Macaques..” Mol Ther 24, no. 11 (November 2016): 2021–32. https://doi.org/10.1038/mt.2016.123.

PMID
27455880
Full Text

Blasi, Maria, J Harris Carpenter, Bala Balakumaran, Andrea Cara, Feng Gao, and Mary E. Klotman. “Identification of HIV-1 genitourinary tract compartmentalization by analyzing the env gene sequences in urine..” Aids 29, no. 13 (August 24, 2015): 1651–57. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000000757.

PMID
26372275
Full Text

Michelini, Zuleika, Donatella Negri, Mirella Biava, Silvia Baroncelli, Massimo Spada, Pasqualina Leone, Roberta Bona, et al. “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 Immunol 27, no. 10 (December 2014): 512–20. https://doi.org/10.1089/vim.2014.0062.

PMID
25343523
Full Text

Blasi, Maria, Bala Balakumaran, Ping Chen, Donatella R. M. Negri, Andrea Cara, Benjamin K. Chen, and Mary E. Klotman. “Renal epithelial cells produce and spread HIV-1 via T-cell contact..” Aids 28, no. 16 (October 23, 2014): 2345–53. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000000398.

PMID
25062092
Full Text

Taffon, S., D. Genovese, M. Blasi, P. Pierotti, A. Degli Esposti, S. Catone, P. Chionne, et al. “HBV whole-genome mutation profile in HIV-1/HBV coinfected patients in a long-term follow-up study..” Infection 42, no. 4 (August 2014): 675–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-014-0616-2.

PMID
24700252
Full Text

Rossi, Alessandra, Zuleika Michelini, Pasqualina Leone, Martina Borghi, Maria Blasi, Roberta Bona, Massimo Spada, et al. “Optimization of mucosal responses after intramuscular immunization with integrase defective lentiviral vector..” Plos One 9, no. 9 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107377.

PMID
25210766
Full Text

Bona, Roberta, Silvia Baroncelli, Gabriella D’Ettorre, Mauro Andreotti, Giancarlo Ceccarelli, Piero Filati, Pasqualina Leone, et al. “Effects of raltegravir on 2-long terminal repeat circle junctions in HIV type 1 viremic and aviremic patients..” Aids Res Hum Retroviruses 29, no. 10 (October 2013): 1365–69. https://doi.org/10.1089/AID.2013.0047.

PMID
23802629
Full Text

Pages