Maria Elena Bottazzi
Maria Elena Bottazzi | |
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 Bottazzi in 2020 |
Maria Elena Bottazzi is an American[1] microbiologist. As of 2024[update] she is associate dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as Distinguished Professor of Biology at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. She is editor-in-chief of Springer's Current Tropical Medicine Reports. She and Peter Hotez led the team that designed COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax.
Early life and education
[edit]The daughter of a Honduran diplomat, Bottazzi was born in Italy; she moved to Honduras when she was eight.[2][3][4] She studied microbiology and clinical chemistry as an undergraduate at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (1989), then earned a doctorate in molecular immunology and experimental pathology from the University of Florida in 1995.[5] She completed post-doctoral work in cellular biology at the University of Miami (1998) and the University of Pennsylvania (2001).[5]
Career
[edit]Bottazzi is Associate Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and Distinguished Professor of Biology at Baylor University, Waco, Texas.[5]
Along with Peter Hotez, Bottazzi runs the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.[6] The center develops vaccines for neglected tropical diseases and other emerging and infectious diseases. One of these vaccines was a SARS-CoV vaccine that was ready for human trials in 2016, but at the time the team could find no one interested in funding it.[7] With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bottazzi and Hotez secured funding to develop Corbevax, a COVID-19 vaccine their group offered without taking a licensing fee for the intellectual property, in hopes of lowering costs of vaccination.[8] It also employs recombinant protein technology, used in vaccines since the 1980s (like the Hepatitis B vaccine),[9] with hopes this would be easier for manufacturers to produce than the newer mRNA technology.[8] In December 2021, Corbevax received emergency use authorization from India, which preordered 300 million doses.[8]
She is editor in chief of Springer's Current Tropical Medicine Reports.[2]
Honors
[edit]In 2017 Bottazzi received the Orden Gran Cruz Placa de Oro.[10]
In 2022, she was honored with the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Great Immigrant Award.[11][12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Maria Elena Bottazzi: "Il nostro nuovo vaccino è un regalo al mondo. Adesso potremo sconfiggere la pandemia"". Il Secolo XIX. 2022-01-08. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
- ^ a b "La científica hondureña en la carrera por crear una vacuna contra el coronavirus en Estados Unidos". BBC News Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-12-31.
- ^ "Maria Elena Bottazzi | Infectious Diseases Data Observatory". www.iddo.org. Archived from the original on 2021-01-22. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
- ^ "Dra. Maria Elena Bottazzi". iddo.org. infectious diseases data observatory. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ a b c "Maria Elena Bottazzi, Ph.D." Baylor College of Medicine. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ "Disease Targets | Texas Children's Hospital". www.texaschildrens.org. Archived from the original on 2021-02-07. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
- ^ "Scientists were close to a coronavirus vaccine years ago. Then the money dried up". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
- ^ a b c Taylor, Adam (December 30, 2021). "A new coronavirus vaccine heading to India was developed by a small team in Texas. It expects nothing in return". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
- ^ "Low-cost and easy-to-make Covid-19 vaccine invented by Texas hospital team wins authorization in India". CNN. 2021-12-28. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
- ^ "Congreso otorga su máxima presea a Amado Núñez y María Elena Bottazzi". September 21, 2017. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
- ^ "Maria Elena Bottazzi". Carnegie Corporation of New York. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- ^ "Carnegie Corporation of New York Honors 34 Distinguished Immigrants Whose Contributions to Our Democracy Inspire Us All". Carnegie Corporation of New York. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
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