Marguerite Buzza

Marguerite Buzza, PhD, serves as a Researcher in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she has been a faculty member since 2012. Her research focuses on membrane-anchored serine proteases, particularly Matriptase and Granzyme B, and their physiological roles in intestinal barrier integrity, immune regulation, and inflammatory diseases. She actively contributes to the Center for Vascular and Inflammatory Diseases (CVID) through seminar organization and collaborative research.

Education:

• PhD in Medicine (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), Monash University, Victoria, Australia, 2004

Dr. Buzza's research investigates how serine proteases regulate epithelial barrier function, with emphasis on Matriptase's critical role in preventing Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) like Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Her work demonstrates that Matriptase deficiency leads to impaired intestinal barrier recovery during colitis and identifies Prostasin as its essential upstream activator. She explores cytokine-mediated disruption of the Matriptase-Prostasin cascade and its implications for IBD pathogenesis, bridging molecular mechanisms with clinical outcomes.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals consistent focus on protease biology across biochemistry, immunology, and gastroenterology. Key themes include proteolytic cascades in barrier regulation (7 articles), disease mechanisms in IBD (5 articles), and novel therapeutic targets like testisin in oncology (3 articles). Her work demonstrates increasing translational emphasis since 2010, with 60% of publications directly addressing disease models or therapeutic applications.

Scientific Awards:

• FASEB SRC Poster Award for outstanding poster presentation at the FASEB SRC Proteases in Hemostasis & Vascular Biology conference (2015, Keystone, CO)

Dr. Buzza mentors four doctoral candidates—Gregory Conway, Tierra Johnson, Raymond Peroutka, and Nisha Pawar—and serves on thesis committees for Conway and Peroutka in the Molecular Medicine Program. Her research is supported by NIH grants investigating protease-mediated barrier dysfunction in IBD, with recent funding focusing on Matriptase-Prostasin signaling pathways. She also serves as ad hoc reviewer for the Journal of Biological Chemistry, American Journal of Physiology, and other high-impact journals.

She leads an active laboratory within the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology, utilizing molecular, cellular, and murine models to study protease functions. As co-organizer of the CVID Seminar Series, she fosters interdisciplinary collaboration between vascular biology and inflammatory disease researchers, facilitating knowledge exchange on protease roles in hemostasis and tissue repair.