Marco De Giorgi, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Email

giorgi@bcm.edu

Positions

Assistant Professor: Integrative Physiology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas, United States

Education

PhD from Medical University of Gdansk: 10/2016 - Gdansk, Poland

MSc from University of Milano-Bicocca: 02/2012 - Monza, Italy

BSc from University of Salento: 10/2006 - Lecce, Italy

Professional Interests

Gene therapy
Genome editing
Lipid metabolism
Atherosclerosis
Genetic engineering

Selected Publications

De Giorgi M et al. " In vivo expansion of gene-targeted hepatocytes through transient inhibition of an essential gene " Sci Transl Med .. 2025 Feb 12; 17 (785)
Pubmed PMID: 39937884.
Walkey CJ et al. " A comprehensive atlas of AAV tropism in the mouse " Mol Ther. 2025 Jan 25;
Pubmed PMID: 39863928.
De Giorgi M et al. " In vivo expansion of gene-targeted hepatocytes through transient inhibition of an essential gene " bioRxiv. 2023 Jul 29;
Pubmed PMID: 37546995.
De Giorgi M, Jarrett KE, Vallim TA, Lagor WR. " In Vivo Gene Editing in Lipid and Atherosclerosis Research " Atherosclerosis. Methods Mol Biol.. 2022 Jan ; 2419
Pubmed PMID: 35237996.
De Giorgi M, Li A, Hurley A, Barzi M, Doerfler AM, Cherayil NA, Smith HE, Brown JD, Lin CY, Bissig K-D, Bao G, Lagor WR. " Targeting the Apoa1 locus for liver-directed gene therapy " Mol. Ther. Methods Clin. Dev.. 2021 Jun 11; 21 : 659-669.
Doerfler AM, Park SH, M. Assini JM, Youssef A, Saxena L, Yaseen AB, De Giorgi M, Chuecos M, Hurley AE, Li A, Marcovina SM, Bao G, Boffa MB, Koschinsky ML, Lagor WR. " LPA disruption with AAV-CRISPR potently lowers plasma apo(a) in transgenic mouse model: A proof-of-concept study " Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev. 2022 Dec 8; 8 (27) : 337-351.
Pubmed PMID: 36381302.
Wang Y, Hurley A, De Giorgi M, Tanner MR, Hu R, Pennington MW, Lagor WR, Beeton C. " Adeno-Associated virus 8 delivers an immunomodulatory peptide to mouse liver more efficiently than to rat liver " PLos One. 2023 Apr 11; 18
Pubmed PMID: 37040361.
Doerfler AM, Han J, Jarrett KE, Tang L, Jain A, Saltzman A, De Giorgi M, Chuecos M, Hurley A, Li A, Morand P, Ayala C, Goodlett DR, Malovannaya A, Martin JF, Vallim TA, Shroyer N, Lagor WR.. " Intestinal Deletion of 3-Hydroxy-3-Methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A Reductase Promotes Expansion of the Resident Stem Cell Compartment " Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol.. 2022 Apr ; 42 (4) : 381-394.
Pubmed PMID: 35172604.
De Giorgi M, Jarrett KE, Burton JC, Doerfler AM, Hurley A, Li A, Hsu RH, Furgurson M, Patel KR, Han J, Borchers CH, Lagor WR. " Depletion of essential isoprenoids and ER stress induction following acute liver-specific deletion of HMG-CoA reductase " J Lipid Res. 2020 Dec ; 61(12) : 1675-1686.
Pubmed PMID: 33109681.
Pastore N, Huynh T, Herz NJ, Calcagni' A, Klisch TJ, Brunetti L, Kim KH, De Giorgi M, Hurley A, Carissimo A, Mutarelli M, Aleksieva N, D'Orsi L, Lagor WR, Moore DD, Settembre C, Finegold MJ, Forbes SJ, Ballabio A. " TFEB Regulates Murine Liver Cell Fate During Development and Regeneration " Nat Commun. 2020 May 18;
Pubmed PMID: 32424153.
Li A, Tanner MR, Lee CM, Hurley AE, De Giorgi M, Jarrett KE, Davis TH, Doerfler AM, Bao G, Beeton C, Lagor WR. " AAV-CRISPR Gene Editing Is Negated by Pre-existing Immunity to Cas9 " Mol Ther. 2020 Apr 19;
Pubmed PMID: 32348718.
Li Z, Votava JA, Zajac GJM, Nguyen JN, Leyva Jaimes FB, Ly SM, Brinkman JA, De Giorgi M, Kaul S, Green CL, St Clair SL, Belisle SL, Rios JM, Nelson DW, Sorci-Thomas MG, Lagor WR, Lamming DW, Eric Yen CL, Parks BW. " Integrating Mouse and Human Genetic Data to Move beyond GWAS and Identify Causal Genes in Cholesterol Metabolism " Cell Metab.. 2020 Mar 17; pii: S1550-4131(20)30074-7
Pubmed PMID: 32197071.
De Giorgi M, Lagor WR. " Gene Delivery in Lipid Research and Therapies " Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J.. 2019 ; 15 (1) : 62-69.
Pubmed PMID: 31049151.
Li A, Lee CM, Hurley AE, Jarrett KE, De Giorgi M, Lu W, Balderrama KS, Doerfler AM, Deshmukh H, Ray A, Bao G, Lagor WR. " A Self-Deleting AAV-CRISPR System for In Vivo Genome Editing " Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev.. 2018 Dec 6; pii: S1525-0016(20)30198-2
Pubmed PMID: 30619914.
Jarrett KE, Lee C, De Giorgi M, Hurley A, Gillard BK, Doerfler AM, Li A, Pownall HJ, Bao G, Lagor WR. " Somatic Editing of Ldlr With Adeno-Associated Viral-CRISPR Is an Efficient Tool for Atherosclerosis Research " Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2018 Jul 19;
Pubmed PMID: 30026278.
1. Scagliotti A, Capizzi L, Cazzaniga ME, Ilari A, De Giorgi M, Cordani N, Gallazzi M, Bruno A, Pelosi G, Albini A, Lavitrano M, Grassilli M and Cerrito MG. " Co-targeting triple-negative breast cancer cells and endothelial cells by metronomic chemotherapy inhibits cell regrowth and migration via downregulation of the FAK/VEGFR2/VEGF axis and autophagy/apoptosis activation " Front Oncol .. 2022 Nov 30;
Pubmed PMID: 36531071.
Cerrito MG, De Giorgi M, Pelizzoni D, Bonomo SM, Digiacomo N, Scagliotti A, Bugarin C, Gaipa G, Grassilli E, Lavitrano M, Giovannoni R, Bidoli P and Cazzaniga ME. " Metronomic combination of Vinorelbine and 5-Fluorouracil inhibit triple-negative breast cancer cells results from the proof-of-concept VICTOR-0 study " Oncotarget. 2018 ; 9 (44) : 27448-27459.
Pubmed PMID: 29937997.
Romano G, Reggi S, Kutryb-Zajac B, Facoetti A, Chisci E, Pettinato M, Giuffrè MR, Vecchio F, Leoni S, De Giorgi M, Avezza F, Cadamuro M, Crippa L, Leone BE, Lavitrano M, Rivolta I, Barisani D, Smolenski RT, Giovannoni R.. " APOA-1Milano muteins, orally delivered via genetically modified rice, show anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory properties in vitro and in Apoe-/- atherosclerotic mice " Int J Cardiol. 2018 Jun 11;
Pubmed PMID: 29907443.
De Giorgi M, Enjyoji K, Jiang G, Csizmadia E, Mitsuhashi S, Gumina JG, Smolenski RT and Robson SC. " Complete deletion of Cd39 is atheroprotective in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice " J Lipid Res. 2017 ; 58 : 1292-1305.
Pubmed PMID: 28487312.
Chisci E*, De Giorgi M*, Zanfrini E, Testasecca A, Brambilla E, Cinti A, Farina L, Kutryb-Zajac B, Bugarin C, Villa C, Grassilli E, Combi R, Gaipa G, Cerrito MG, Rivolta I, Smolenski RT, Lavitrano M and Giovannoni R. " Simultaneous overexpression of human E5NT and ENTPD1 protects porcine endothelial cells against H2O2-induced oxidative stress and cytotoxicity in vitro " Free Radic Biol Med. 2017 ; 108 : 320-333.
Pubmed PMID: 28389406.
Baggio Savio LE, De Giorgi M, Robson SC. " Ectonucleotidases in Immunobiology. " Encyclopedia of Immunobiology. 2016 ; 2 : 424–431.
Cinti A, De Giorgi M, Chisci E, Arena C, Galimberti G, Farina L, Bugarin C, Rivolta I, Gaipa G, Smolenski RT, Cerrito MG, Lavitrano M, Giovannoni R. " Simultaneous overexpression of functional human HO-1, E5NT and ENTPD1 protects murine fibroblasts against TNF-α-induced injury in vitro " Plos One. 2015 ; 10 : e0141933.
Pubmed PMID: 26513260.
De Giorgi M, Cinti A, Pelikant-Malecka I, Chisci E, Lavitrano M, Giovannoni R, Smolenski RT. " Co-expression of functional human heme oxygenase 1, ecto-5’-nucleotidase and ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 by “self-cleaving” 2A peptide system " Plasmid. 2015 ; 79 : 22-29.
Pubmed PMID: 25779031.
De Giorgi M, Pelikant-Malecka I, Sielicka A, Slominska EM, Giovannoni R, Cinti A, Cerrito MG, Lavitrano M, Smolenski RT. " Functional analysis of expression of human ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 and/or ecto-5’-nucleotidase in pig endothelial cells " Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids. 2014 ; 33 : 313-318.
Pubmed PMID: 24940685.
4. Walkey CJ, Snow KJ, Bulcha J, Cox AR, Martinez AE, Ljungberg MC, Lanza DG, De Giorgi M et al. " Comprehensive Atlas of AAV Tropism in the Mouse " bioRxiv. 2024 Sep 10;
Pubmed PMID: 37546995.
De Giorgi M, Park SH, Bao G, Lagor WR. " Repair Drive improves gene editing in the liver " Mol Ther.. 2025 Mar 19;
Pubmed PMID: 40112821.

Funding

In vivo expansion of gene-targeted hepatocytes for liver gene therapy #PNC24-260845: (07/01/2024 - 06/30/2027); Grant funding from American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases

In vivo expansion of gene-targeted hepatocytes as a treatment for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency #ALF Pilot Research Award: (10/01/2025 - 09/30/2026); Grant funding from American Liver Foundation

Intellectual Property

SELECTIVE EXPANSION OF GENE-TARGETED CELLS: Method Patent #WO/2021/108269; Co Inventors: LAGOR, William HURLEY, Ayrea JARRETT, Kelsey BISSIG, Karl-Dimiter DE GIORGI, Marco FURGURSON, Mia