Fields of Research
• Drug discovery
• Biomarkers
• Molecular basis of disease
• Neurobiology and behavior
• Protein engineering
• Translation
• Entrepreneurship
Research Summary
The Pravetoni group focuses on development and translation of medical interventions against substance use disorders (SUD) and other chemical and biological threats. Current efforts are:
1) Vaccines, monoclonal antibodies (mAb), next-gen binders and small molecules to treat or prevent SUD, opioid use disorders (OUD) and overdose
2) Mechanisms and biomarkers underlying or predicting efficacy of immunotherapeutics and medications in pre-clinical and clinical studies
3) Novel strategies to enhance vaccine or medication efficacy, including immunomodulators, small molecules, adjuvants, nanoparticles, polymers and other delivery platforms
4) Other targets and indications
Research Statement
Current medications are not always sufficient to treat substance use disorders and prevent or reverse drug overdoses. This has resulted in a dramatic increase in fatal and non-fatal overdoses in the United States, with ~100,000 fatal overdoses occurring each year. In response to this public health crisis, Dr. Pravetoni is developing novel therapeutics such as vaccines, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and other biologics to treat and prevent substance use disorders and overdose. Dr. Pravetoni’s team has identified promising vaccines against heroin, oxycodone, fentanyl, and their derivatives or combinations. His team is currently testing a lead oxycodone vaccine in the first-in-human Phase I clinical trial, and they are pursuing clinical testing of other vaccine and mAb against other opioids of interest. To accelerate discoveries, the multidisciplinary group is leveraging a variety of technologies such as rational vaccine design, protein engineering, adjuvants, nanotechnology, formulations, immunomodulators, cellular and molecular mechanisms of efficacy, biomarkers, sequencing, PK/PD modeling, AI/ML tools, and public private partnerships with industry. These strategies and concepts are also applied to other chemical and biological threats of public health and defense interest.
Awards and Honors
Pitch for start-up “AddVax”, Winner of the Most Intriguing Venture (Twin Cities), 2018
University of Minnesota Walleye Tank 2018 Spring Opener
Endowment from the Terrance and Bette Noble Foundation Fund (Minnesota) 2021
Rick L. Seaver Endowed Professorship in Brain Wellness (Washington) 2022
2023 Blue Ridge Rankings: 5th most funded (NIH awards) PI in Psychiatry of all NIH funded PIs (https://brimr.org/brimr-rankings-of-nih-funding-in-2022/)
2025 Innovator Award, College on Problems on Drug Dependence (CPDD)
Marco Pravetoni
Rick L. Seaver Endowed Professorship for Brain Wellness, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director – Center for Medical Development for Substance Use Disorders
Marco Pravetoni
Rick L. Seaver Endowed Professorship for Brain Wellness, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director – Center for Medical Development for Substance Use Disorders
Faculty
- Building:
- Harborview Medical Center
- Room:
- 406
- Box:
- 356560
- Phone:
- 206-897-4202
- Web Link:
- https://psychiatry.uw.edu/profile/marco-pravetoni/
Lab
- Building:
- Harborview Medical Center
- Room:
- 359675
- Box:
- 359675
- Web Link:
- https://pravetoni.psychiatry.uw.edu/
Marco Pravetoni
Rick L. Seaver Endowed Professorship for Brain Wellness, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director – Center for Medical Development for Substance Use Disorders
Marco Pravetoni
Rick L. Seaver Endowed Professorship for Brain Wellness, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director – Center for Medical Development for Substance Use Disorders
Undergraduate:
Annika Samra
Justin Mumma
Nate Xu
Ronin Deo-Campo Vuong
Postdocs:
Joe Gallant
Fatima A Hamid
Jason Kang
Simar Singh
Daihyun Song
Marco Pravetoni
Rick L. Seaver Endowed Professorship for Brain Wellness, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Director – Center for Medical Development for Substance Use Disorders
Select Publications
Walter DL, Bian Y, Hu H, Hamid FA, Rostamizadeh K, Vigliaturo JR, DeHority R, Ehrich M, Runyon S, Pravetoni M, Zhang C. The immunological and pharmacokinetic evaluation of Lipid-PLGA hybrid nanoparticle-based oxycodone vaccines. Biomaterials. 2025 Feb;313:122758. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2024.122758. Epub 2024 Aug 18. PMID: 39182328; PMCID: PMC11402561.
Miller SM, Crouse B, Hicks L, Amin H, Cole S, Bazin HG, Burkhart DJ, Pravetoni M, Evans JT. A lipidated TLR7/8 adjuvant enhances the efficacy of a vaccine against fentanyl in mice. NPJ Vaccines. 2023 Jul 10;8(1):97. doi: 10.1038/s41541-023-00694-y. PMID: 37429853; PMCID: PMC10333387.
Powers N, Massena C, Crouse B, Smith M, Hicks L, Evans JT, Miller S, Pravetoni M, Burkhart D. Self-Adjuvanting TLR7/8 Agonist and Fentanyl Hapten Co-Conjugate Achieves Enhanced Protection against Fentanyl Challenge. Bioconjug Chem. 2023 Oct 18;34(10):1811-1821. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.3c00347. Epub 2023 Sep 27. PMID: 37758302; PMCID: PMC10587865.
Martinez S, Harris H, Chao T, Luba R, Pravetoni M, Comer SD, Jones JD. The potential role of opioid vaccines and monoclonal antibodies in the opioid overdose crisis. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2023 Mar;32(3):181-185. doi: 10.1080/13543784.2023.2187286. Epub 2023 Mar 6. PMID: 36863002; PMCID: PMC10065938.
Kiluk BD, Kleykamp BA, Comer SD, Griffiths RR, Huhn AS, Johnson MW, Kampman KM, Pravetoni M, Preston KL, Vandrey R, Bergeria CL, Bogenschutz MP, Brown RT, Dunn KE, Dworkin RH, Finan PH, Hendricks PS, Houtsmuller EJ, Kosten TR, Lee DC, Levin FR, McRae-Clark A, Raison CL, Rasmussen K, Turk DC, Weiss RD, Strain EC. Clinical Trial Design Challenges and Opportunities for Emerging Treatments for Opioid Use Disorder: A Review. JAMA Psychiatry. 2023 Jan 1;80(1):84-92. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.4020. PMID: 36449315; PMCID: PMC10297827.
Publications
