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David R. Martinez, PhD

Assistant Professor
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Assistant Professor

Biography

David R. Martinez, Ph.D. studies immunity to viral pathogens of global health importance. David grew up in El Salvador until age 13. As a young child, David became interested in emerging viruses because of innate curiosity in viruses and vaccines as well as his exposure to public health campaigns to fight arthropod-borne viruses (e.g., Dengue virus) and other infectious diseases. David received his Ph.D. from Duke University and trained with leading vaccine immunologist, Dr. Sallie R. Permar, at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute. Following the completion of his doctoral studies, David trained as a postdoctoral scholar with one of the world’s leading coronavirologists, Dr. Ralph Baric, at UNC Chapel Hill before and during the COVID-19 pandemic studying immunity to flaviviruses and coronaviruses. Dr. Martinez was part of the teams that contributed to the development of the FDA-approved and widely used Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine which was used under Emergency Use Authorization. Dr. Martinez also contributed to the pre-clinical development of COVID-19 human monoclonal antibody therapies from Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca which also received FDA Emergency Use Authorization. Dr. Martinez is a Hanna H. Gray Faculty Fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Last Updated on August 28, 2024.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Postdoctoral Scholar
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2023)
PhD
Duke University, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology (2018)
BS
University of Oklahoma, Microbiology (2013)

Research

Overview

Medical Research Interests

Arboviruses; Coronavirus; Dengue Vaccines; Flavivirus; Flavivirus Infections; Immunity, Mucosal; Infections; Inflammation; RNA Viruses; Virology

Public Health Interests

COVID-19; Global Health; Immunology; Infectious Diseases; Mosquito-borne Diseases; Neglected Tropical Diseases; Respiratory Disease/Infections; Vaccines; Vector-borne Diseases; Viruses; Zoonotic Diseases
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    The Martinez laboratory

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Research at a Glance

Publications Timeline

A big-picture view of David R. Martinez's research output by year.
23Publications

Publications

Featured Publications

2024

  • The oral nucleoside prodrug GS-5245 is efficacious against SARS-CoV-2 and other endemic, epidemic, and enzootic coronaviruses.
    Martinez DR, Moreira FR, Catanzaro NJ, Diefenbacher MV, Zweigart MR, Gully KL, De la Cruz G, Brown AJ, Adams LE, Yount B, Baric TJ, Mallory ML, Conrad H, May SR, Dong S, Scobey DT, Nguyen C, Montgomery SA, Perry JK, Babusis D, Barrett KT, Nguyen AH, Nguyen AQ, Kalla R, Bannister R, Feng JY, Cihlar T, Baric RS, Mackman RL, Bilello JP, Schäfer A, Sheahan TP. The oral nucleoside prodrug GS-5245 is efficacious against SARS-CoV-2 and other endemic, epidemic, and enzootic coronaviruses. Sci Transl Med 2024, 16: eadj4504. PMID: 38776389, DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adj4504.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research

2023

  • Vaccine-mediated protection against Merbecovirus and Sarbecovirus challenge in mice.
    Martinez DR, Schäfer A, Gavitt TD, Mallory ML, Lee E, Catanzaro NJ, Chen H, Gully K, Scobey T, Korategere P, Brown A, Smith L, Parks R, Barr M, Newman A, Bowman C, Powers JM, Soderblom EJ, Mansouri K, Edwards RJ, Baric RS, Haynes BF, Saunders KO. Vaccine-mediated protection against Merbecovirus and Sarbecovirus challenge in mice. Cell Rep 2023, 113248. PMID: 37858337, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113248.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research

2022

  • Breadth of SARS-CoV-2 neutralization and protection induced by a nanoparticle vaccine.
    Li D, Martinez DR, Schäfer A, Chen H, Barr M, Sutherland LL, Lee E, Parks R, Mielke D, Edwards W, Newman A, Bock KW, Minai M, Nagata BM, Gagne M, Douek DC, DeMarco CT, Denny TN, Oguin TH 3rd, Brown A, Rountree W, Wang Y, Mansouri K, Edwards RJ, Ferrari G, Sempowski GD, Eaton A, Tang J, Cain DW, Santra S, Pardi N, Weissman D, Tomai MA, Fox CB, Moore IN, Andersen H, Lewis MG, Golding H, Seder R, Khurana S, Baric RS, Montefiori DC, Saunders KO, Haynes BF. Breadth of SARS-CoV-2 neutralization and protection induced by a nanoparticle vaccine. Nat Commun 2022, 13: 6309. PMID: 36274085, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33985-4.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research
  • Therapeutic treatment with an oral prodrug of the remdesivir parental nucleoside is protective against SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis in mice.
    Schäfer A, Martinez DR, Won JJ, Meganck RM, Moreira FR, Brown AJ, Gully KL, Zweigart MR, Conrad WS, May SR, Dong S, Kalla R, Chun K, Du Pont V, Babusis D, Tang J, Murakami E, Subramanian R, Barrett KT, Bleier BJ, Bannister R, Feng JY, Bilello JP, Cihlar T, Mackman RL, Montgomery SA, Baric RS, Sheahan TP. Therapeutic treatment with an oral prodrug of the remdesivir parental nucleoside is protective against SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis in mice. Sci Transl Med 2022, 14: eabm3410. PMID: 35315683, DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abm3410.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research
  • A broadly cross-reactive antibody neutralizes and protects against sarbecovirus challenge in mice.
    Martinez DR, Schäfer A, Gobeil S, Li D, De la Cruz G, Parks R, Lu X, Barr M, Stalls V, Janowska K, Beaudoin E, Manne K, Mansouri K, Edwards RJ, Cronin K, Yount B, Anasti K, Montgomery SA, Tang J, Golding H, Shen S, Zhou T, Kwong PD, Graham BS, Mascola JR, Montefiori DC, Alam SM, Sempowski G, Sempowski GD, Khurana S, Wiehe K, Saunders KO, Acharya P, Haynes BF, Baric RS. A broadly cross-reactive antibody neutralizes and protects against sarbecovirus challenge in mice. Sci Transl Med 2022, 14: eabj7125. PMID: 34726473, DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abj7125.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research

2021

  • Differential Kinetics of Immune Responses Elicited by Covid-19 Vaccines.
    Collier AY, Yu J, McMahan K, Liu J, Chandrashekar A, Maron JS, Atyeo C, Martinez DR, Ansel JL, Aguayo R, Rowe M, Jacob-Dolan C, Sellers D, Barrett J, Ahmad K, Anioke T, VanWyk H, Gardner S, Powers O, Bondzie EA, Wan H, Baric RS, Alter G, Hacker MR, Barouch DH. Differential Kinetics of Immune Responses Elicited by Covid-19 Vaccines. N Engl J Med 2021, 385: 2010-2012. PMID: 34648703, DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2115596.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research
  • In vitro and in vivo functions of SARS-CoV-2 infection-enhancing and neutralizing antibodies.
    Li D, Edwards RJ, Manne K, Martinez DR, Schäfer A, Alam SM, Wiehe K, Lu X, Parks R, Sutherland LL, Oguin TH 3rd, McDanal C, Perez LG, Mansouri K, Gobeil SMC, Janowska K, Stalls V, Kopp M, Cai F, Lee E, Foulger A, Hernandez GE, Sanzone A, Tilahun K, Jiang C, Tse LV, Bock KW, Minai M, Nagata BM, Cronin K, Gee-Lai V, Deyton M, Barr M, Von Holle T, Macintyre AN, Stover E, Feldman J, Hauser BM, Caradonna TM, Scobey TD, Rountree W, Wang Y, Moody MA, Cain DW, DeMarco CT, Denny TN, Woods CW, Petzold EW, Schmidt AG, Teng IT, Zhou T, Kwong PD, Mascola JR, Graham BS, Moore IN, Seder R, Andersen H, Lewis MG, Montefiori DC, Sempowski GD, Baric RS, Acharya P, Haynes BF, Saunders KO. In vitro and in vivo functions of SARS-CoV-2 infection-enhancing and neutralizing antibodies. Cell 2021, 184: 4203-4219.e32. PMID: 34242577, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.06.021.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research
  • Immunogenicity of Ad26.COV2.S vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 variants in humans.
    Alter G, Yu J, Liu J, Chandrashekar A, Borducchi EN, Tostanoski LH, McMahan K, Jacob-Dolan C, Martinez DR, Chang A, Anioke T, Lifton M, Nkolola J, Stephenson KE, Atyeo C, Shin S, Fields P, Kaplan I, Robins H, Amanat F, Krammer F, Baric RS, Le Gars M, Sadoff J, de Groot AM, Heerwegh D, Struyf F, Douoguih M, van Hoof J, Schuitemaker H, Barouch DH. Immunogenicity of Ad26.COV2.S vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 variants in humans. Nature 2021, 596: 268-272. PMID: 34107529, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03681-2.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research
See All Publications

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

Honors

  • honor

    Early Career Researcher Award

    07/01/2024National AwardElsevier Vaccine
  • honor

    AAI Aspire Award

    01/18/2024National AwardAmerican Association of Immunologists
  • honor

    Rising Stars Mentorship Program Awardee

    11/01/2022National AwardGlobal Virus Network
  • honor

    Dr. Eddie Mendez Award

    06/09/2022National AwardFred Hutchinson Cancer Center
  • honor

    Hanna H. Gray Fellowship

    12/18/2020National AwardHoward Hughes Medical Institute
View full list of honors

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Mar 202626Thursday
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