This month, we spotlight Keystone Symposia Fellow Dr. David R. Martinez, PhD, an assistant professor of immunobiology and microbial pathogenesis at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Martinez' research career is inspired by his upbringing in El Salvador, where emerging viruses such as Dengue were a major public health threat. This sparked his interest in learning more about these pathogens, their interactions with the immune system, and vaccination strategies to protect against them.
After receiving his PhD from Duke University at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute under Dr. Sallie R. Permar, he moved to UNC Chapel Hill to trained as a postdoctoral scholar with Dr. Ralph Baric, a leading coronavirus expert. The timing could not have been more serendipitous, as shortly thereafter the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Dr. Martinez found himself in the midst of using his skills and knowledge to solve the greatest global health threat of our lifetime (thus far). Dr. Martinez became part of the teams that contributed to the development of the Moderna and Johnson & Jonson COVID-19 vaccines, as well as pre-clinical development of monoclonal antibody therapies that ultimately were commercialized by Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca.
Responding to a global pandemic and making substantial contributions that changed the course of the pandemic was surreal. This is perhaps (and hopefully!) a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a scientist," says Dr. Martinez.
Now in his own lab at Yale School of Medicine where he studies coronaviruses and dengue, he examines mechanisms of immune protection and immune evasion to guide universal vaccination strategies. In this Q&A, he shares what motivates his work, what it was like to be at the epicenter of COVID-19 research during the pandemic, and how the Fellows Program has influenced his career trajectory.
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Hanna H. Gray Fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Assistant Professor of Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
Yale School of Medicine
What was it like to find yourself in the midst of a global pandemic, using your skills and knowledge in such an urgent situation? Did you feel like you had prepared your whole life for this moment?
Responding to a global pandemic and making substantial contributions that changed the course of the pandemic was surreal. This is perhaps (and hopefully!) a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a scientist. At the time I joined Ralph Baric’s lab at UNC Chapel Hill for my postdoc, coronaviruses were deemed unimportant even by other scientists. The lab had built many tools to study emerging coronaviruses, and when SARS-CoV-2 began to cause a large-scale epidemic and historic global pandemic, we applied those tools to develop life-saving COVID-19 vaccines, monoclonal antibody therapies, and antivirals that turned out to be widely used in people because of the work that we and others did.
Timing, luck, and being at the right place at the right time cannot be controlled. However, I did have a specific skillset that I learned as a grad student at Duke University. So, while my arrival and timing might have been serendipitous, my skills were not. Like other immunologists, I was able to apply concepts that I had learned from studying immunity to other viral infections to SARS-CoV-2, which ranged from defining sites of the spike that were targets of human protective immunity all the way to developing broad-based vaccine strategies for coronaviruses. I am now applying those skills in my laboratory to study immunity to mosquito-borne viral infections like dengue virus.
How has this experience influenced the trajectory of your research and career?
We live in a polarized and political time where, sadly, studying vaccines and viral pathogens can be controversial.
My previous experience highlighted to me that even though my field is front and center of the anti-science movement, it’s still important science that impacts human health. It has made me double down and be resolute to study scientific questions I deem important.
Did your upbringing in El Salvador give you any unique insights into the global pandemic and pandemic responses?
Not necessarily insights, but I do have an appreciation for how viral infections are global. I grew up in a country where mosquito-borne viral infections were (and still are!) prevalent. These types of infections are not as appreciated in the U.S. as of now. However, with climate change, geographic redistribution of mosquitoes, and viral evolution, some of these viral infections, like dengue, are currently expanding to new areas. Therefore, growing up in a country where viral infections are prevalent and a permanent fixture cemented the view that viral infections are global.
Briefly describe your research, why it is important, and what motivates you to pursue this area?
My lab studies host immune responses to viral infections. I’ve always been fascinated by viral pathogens and how they cause disease. I’m equally fascinated by how the host generates protective immune responses to combat pathogenic infections. The importance of this work has been highlighted several times independently in the last few decades in the setting of large-scale viral outbreaks into human populations, including the large Ebola virus outbreak in 2014, the Zika virus outbreak in 2015, and the SARS-CoV-2 viral outbreak that led to a global pandemic. Our lab aims to understand how the host generates protective B cell responses. Our lab uses vaccine approaches to mimic these B cell responses, and we also study details about vaccine-elicited immune responses with the goal of improving vaccines.
While I was growing up in El Salvador, dengue virus was a major problem there (and still is!). My exposure to public health campaigns to combat dengue virus sparked my curiosity about viral infections. My lab now studies dengue virus vaccines and fundamental dengue virus biology to understand how to better protect against dengue and how the virus causes disease. It’s really an exciting field to be in!"
What pivotal moment sticks with you from your experience as a Keystone Symposia Fellow, and how has it impacted you?
A critical moment was attending the Scientific Advisory Board with other Keystone Fellows and leaders in the field. I was able to make connections with new colleagues, and it was a great networking opportunity. I was able to see how Keystone meetings are planned, and this exposure demystified the process. I also noticed how being a Keystone Fellow allows you to have a voice in the planning process of the relevant Keystone meetings in my field, and this made me feel like I had a seat at the table. It was wonderful.
What prompted you to apply for the Fellows Program and how do you expect it to help shape your career?
I was encouraged to apply by a former Keystone fellow who I know. She told me how positive her experience had been with the Keystone fellows’ program. I expect that I will form and maintain valuable connections and expand my network because of being a Keystone Fellow. I already see the value after attending the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) meeting. I was able to make many new connections with both established and rising star scientists.
What are your thoughts on the importance of mentorship? How has your Keystone mentor influenced you and your career? How do you act as a mentor for your community?
I’ve always thought mentorship was crucial. I think the success I’ve had so far can be, in part, attributed to my mentors. I’ve learned a lot from them on what it takes to be successful in academia. My mentors have taught me the nitty-gritty of a wide range of things, including NIH grant writing and presenting, and helped me hone and sharpen my scientific skills. While I’ve always wanted to be an academic, and thankfully that career path worked out for me, my mentors, who were also academics, helped guide me towards this path.
I see my role as a mentor in helping the students, postdocs, and staff in my lab achieve their career goals. These goals do not have to be that they run their own lab someday or that they turn into mini versions of me.
My role as a mentor is to help guide my lab members so they can be successful towards their next step. My lab is a steppingstone to their next destination. I hope that while they are in my lab, they will learn how to be great and rigorous scientists, that they will learn from my mentoring style, and that someday they will pay this forward to their mentees."
How has being a Keystone Symposia Fellow helped shape your career?
It’s great to be around other Keystone Fellows who are in similar career stages as I am. Many of us are new to our faculty positions, and it’s nice to have a network outside our institutions of other new assistant professors. It’s reassuring to hear how other new assistant professors are overcoming roadblocks in their nascent careers, and this gives a lot of encouragement.
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