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David R. Martinez, PhD

Assistant Professor

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David R. Martinez, PhD

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Research Summary

I study immunity to viral pathogens of global importance including coronaviruses, flaviviruses, and other emerging viruses. The laboratory of Viral Pathobiology and Immunity (Martinez lab) studies interactions between viral entry proteins and host antibody responses with the goal of informing universal and broad-based vaccine approaches. In this line of work, we have defined broadly conserved targets in SARS-related viruses that share epitopes with SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2. Based on these studies we are developing universal vaccination strategies that harness these broadly conserved epitopes in pandemic coronaviruses and these vaccines can protect animals from disease. In addition, we are interested in defining how antibodies protect or enhance disease against flaviviruses including Dengue virus, Zika virus, West Nile virus, Yellow Fever virus, and other emerging flaviviruses. Our studies on coronavirus and flavivirus interactions with host antibodies are being used to design rational vaccination strategies against these emerging viruses which are a major threat to global public health.

Research Interests

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

Public Health Interests

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

Selected Publications

  • Chimeric spike mRNA vaccines protect against Sarbecovirus challenge in mice.Martinez DR, Schäfer A, Leist SR, De la Cruz G, West A, Atochina-Vasserman EN, Lindesmith LC, Pardi N, Parks R, Barr M, Li D, Yount B, Saunders KO, Weissman D, Haynes BF, Montgomery SA, Baric RS. Chimeric spike mRNA vaccines protect against Sarbecovirus challenge in mice. Science 2021, 373: 991-998. PMID: 34214046, DOI: 10.1126/science.abi4506.
  • Fc Characteristics Mediate Selective Placental Transfer of IgG in HIV-Infected Women.Martinez DR, Fong Y, Li SH, Yang F, Jennewein MF, Weiner JA, Harrell EA, Mangold JF, Goswami R, Seage GR 3rd, Alter G, Ackerman ME, Peng X, Fouda GG, Permar SR. Fc Characteristics Mediate Selective Placental Transfer of IgG in HIV-Infected Women. Cell 2019, 178: 190-201.e11. PMID: 31204101, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.05.046.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Prevention and therapy of SARS-CoV-2 and the B.1.351 variant in mice.Martinez DR, Schäfer A, Leist SR, Li D, Gully K, Yount B, Feng JY, Bunyan E, Porter DP, Cihlar T, Montgomery SA, Haynes BF, Baric RS, Nussenzweig MC, Sheahan TP. Prevention and therapy of SARS-CoV-2 and the B.1.351 variant in mice. Cell Rep 2021, 36: 109450. PMID: 34289384, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109450.
  • Dengue Vaccines: The Promise and Pitfalls of Antibody-Mediated Protection.Martinez DR, Metz SW, Baric RS. Dengue Vaccines: The Promise and Pitfalls of Antibody-Mediated Protection. Cell Host Microbe 2021, 29: 13-22. PMID: 33444553, DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2020.12.011.
  • Antigenic Variation of the Dengue Virus 2 Genotypes Impacts the Neutralization Activity of Human Antibodies in Vaccinees.Martinez DR, Yount B, Nivarthi U, Munt JE, Delacruz MJ, Whitehead SS, Durbin AP, de Silva AM, Baric RS. Antigenic Variation of the Dengue Virus 2 Genotypes Impacts the Neutralization Activity of Human Antibodies in Vaccinees. Cell Rep 2020, 33: 108226. PMID: 33027653, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108226.
  • SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine design enabled by prototype pathogen preparedness.Corbett KS, Edwards DK, Leist SR, Abiona OM, Boyoglu-Barnum S, Gillespie RA, Himansu S, Schäfer A, Ziwawo CT, DiPiazza AT, Dinnon KH, Elbashir SM, Shaw CA, Woods A, Fritch EJ, Martinez DR, Bock KW, Minai M, Nagata BM, Hutchinson GB, Wu K, Henry C, Bahl K, Garcia-Dominguez D, Ma L, Renzi I, Kong WP, Schmidt SD, Wang L, Zhang Y, Phung E, Chang LA, Loomis RJ, Altaras NE, Narayanan E, Metkar M, Presnyak V, Liu C, Louder MK, Shi W, Leung K, Yang ES, West A, Gully KL, Stevens LJ, Wang N, Wrapp D, Doria-Rose NA, Stewart-Jones G, Bennett H, Alvarado GS, Nason MC, Ruckwardt TJ, McLellan JS, Denison MR, Chappell JD, Moore IN, Morabito KM, Mascola JR, Baric RS, Carfi A, Graham BS. SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine design enabled by prototype pathogen preparedness. Nature 2020, 586: 567-571. PMID: 32756549, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2622-0.
  • Maternal Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies Can Select for Neutralization-Resistant, Infant-Transmitted/Founder HIV Variants.Martinez DR, Tu JJ, Kumar A, Mangold JF, Mangan RJ, Goswami R, Giorgi EE, Chen J, Mengual M, Douglas AO, Heimsath H, Saunders KO, Nicely NI, Eudailey J, Hernandez G, Morgan-Asiedu PK, Wiehe K, Haynes BF, Moody MA, LaBranche C, Montefiori DC, Gao F, Permar SR. Maternal Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies Can Select for Neutralization-Resistant, Infant-Transmitted/Founder HIV Variants. MBio 2020, 11 PMID: 32156815, DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00176-20.
  • The Impact of IgG transplacental transfer on early life immunity.Fouda GG, Martinez DR, Swamy GK, Permar SR. The Impact of IgG transplacental transfer on early life immunity. Immunohorizons 2018, 2: 14-25. PMID: 29457151, DOI: 10.4049/immunohorizons.1700057.
  • Maternal Binding and Neutralizing IgG Responses Targeting the C-Terminal Region of the V3 Loop Are Predictive of Reduced Peripartum HIV-1 Transmission Risk.Martinez DR, Vandergrift N, Douglas AO, McGuire E, Bainbridge J, Nicely NI, Montefiori DC, Tomaras GD, Fouda GG, Permar SR. Maternal Binding and Neutralizing IgG Responses Targeting the C-Terminal Region of the V3 Loop Are Predictive of Reduced Peripartum HIV-1 Transmission Risk. J Virol 2017, 91 PMID: 28202762, DOI: 10.1128/JVI.02422-16.
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