Professor Dr. David Martinez

Biography

David R. Martinez studies immunity to viral pathogens, focusing on global health and the importance of vaccines. He grew up in El Salvador and became interested in emerging viruses from a young age, influenced by public health campaigns against arthropod-borne viruses like Dengue. David earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology from Duke University, where he trained under Dr. Sallie R. Permar. After completing his doctoral studies, he trained as a postdoctoral scholar with Dr. Ralph Baric at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic and conducted research on flavivirus and coronavirus immunity. Dr. Martinez contributed to the development of the FDA-approved Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, as well as pre-clinical development of monoclonal antibody therapies that received FDA Emergency Use Authorization. He is a Hanna H. Gray Faculty Fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Research Interests

Awards