Mariola Ferraro, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Microbiology and Cell Science

Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

2024 Awardee


Mariola Ferraro strives to make a positive impact on public health by developing therapies and preventive approaches against Gram-negative infections. Such infections resist multiple treatments, including most available antibiotics.

Her influence in the field of infectious disease is seen through groundbreaking research and innovative techniques.

Ferraro, an associate professor of microbiology and cell science at the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, aims to understand how the body reacts to pathogens — and vice versa — and use that information to develop effective treatments.

“It is a privilege to contribute to the development of therapies with the potential to save lives,” Ferraro says. “Specifically, advancing preventative approaches against infectious diseases and pioneering novel therapies to address difficult infections is both a challenging and rewarding endeavor.”

Her team investigates the functions of extracellular vesicles in intestinal infections. They also look at improving the way drugs are delivered, including enzyme replacement therapies.

“Dr. Ferraro has greatly elevated our status in bacteria pathogenesis and proteomics in the microbiology community both nationally and internationally,” says John Davis, the IFAS interim dean for research.

Ferraro’s group discovered a new function of extracellular vesicles in jump-starting a protective immune response against salmonella infections. They are currently investigating the way these vesicles work and how antigens — markers that tell the body something is foreign — play a role.

Her lab also identified new roles of bioactive lipids, which support the elimination of bacteria. They are investigating the role those lipids play in the body’s response to infection and the regulation of inflammation.

Ferraro and her team specialize in techniques and tools such as chemical proteomics — the study of proteins and their cellular activities — and lipidomics, the study of lipid molecules and their role with respect to expression of proteins, including gene regulation.

She has a Ph.D. in clinical medicine from the University of Oxford and joined UF in 2015. Ferraro has published 79 peer-reviewed articles and maintains about $1 million in annual grant funding.

“My dedication to understanding the fundamentals of immune defenses against infections is essential for creating innovative and effective anti-infective treatments,” Ferraro says. “My passion and commitment are driven by the pursuit of solutions that others can further develop to significantly impact public health and improve patient outcomes.”