Synopsis of activities: Carlos Martinez-A.
1. SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS
My scientific career has focused on the study of leukocyte activation and migration and immune system regulation, and their implications in cancer, HIV-1 infection and autoimmune diseases. Over the last 35 years, I have studied the physiology of lymphocytes as central components of the immune system, from the perspective of cell and molecular biology.
I developed an experimental system with which to study lymphocyte interactions, which showed the extraordinary selectivity of these interactions; this helped to explain the old paradigm of shared “idiotype” expression by T and B cells. In mice, these interactions are essential for generation of the immune repertoire during development, with implications for vaccination fundamentals.
I contributed to the first description of the current model for B and T lymphocyte activation. From there I moved into the development of autoimmune disease, as well as into the role of the Dido gene in apoptosis induction and cell cycle control. I also studied the role of the p21 gene product in memory cell accumulation and its implications in autoimmunity.
I contributed to the identification of the mechanisms by which chemokines mediate lymphocyte migration, a process necessary for immune cell patrolling to identify possible "invaders" in the body. I aided in the identification of chemokine receptor dimerization as an important step in cell signaling, as well as the activation and recruitment of JAK/STAT molecules; both of these steps are extensible to other GPCR-mediated biological responses, to which more than 70% of current drugs are directed. I showed that these processes take place in specific cell membrane domains, the lipid-rich "rafts", that initiate polarization between the advancing cell front and the uropod, necessary for migration. Cell polarization and chemokine receptor recruitment in rafts are used by pathogens, including HIV-1, to infect cells; this information allowed identification of two new possible strategies for interference with HIV-1 infection.
I am presently interested in understanding the biology of stem cells and in the analysis of alterations generated in somatic cells in the context of cancer, as well as their ability to act as immunoregulators. I focuses my attention on the Dido locus, a gene complex described only in higher vertebrates, which encodes three splice variants. Stem cells generated from targeted deletion of specificDido exons show aneuploidy, centrosome amplification and inability to differentiate in vitro, which can be restored by expression of full-length Dido3. To better understand the role of Dido in stem cells and in somatic cells, my group has generated models in which the Dido locus as well as different exons are flanked by LoxP sites. The distinct mouse mutants are being characterized for their susceptibility to neoplastic transformation and development of inflammatory disease.
2. MANAGEMENT SKILLS
I had a long career in teaching and research, I directed more than 20 PhD theses, all evaluated with maximum marks. My laboratory has hosted more than 40 postdoctoral scientists from many countries, and many of my former students currently hold positions of importance in academia, in private and public research institutions, and in biomedical and pharmaceutical industries, in Spain and internationally.
In 1993 I created, and until 2004 directed, the Department of Immunology and Oncology (DIO), a joint department between the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the multinational pharmaceutical company Pfizer. The DIO has trained over 600 scientists, has sponsored numerous seminars and scientific meetings, and its researchers have produced more than 1000 publications, making the DIO an internationally competitive department.
From 2004 to 2008, I served as President of the CSIC, the largest public research institution in Spain, with more than 120 research institutes distributed throughout Spain, more than 13,000 workers of whom over 3700 are tenured scientists, more than 3800 scientists in training of which 1400 are postdoctoral fellows, approximately 3200 technical staff and around 2200 support staff. Under my presidency, the CSIC launched the four-year Strategic Plan 2005-2009, based on rigorous international assessment, and modified the legal status of the CSIC to improve the institution’s autonomy and flexibility.
From 2008 to December 2009, I was appointed Secretary of State for Research within the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, responsible for coordinating and implementing public research policy for Spain. During this time, I gave a definitive boost to the new Law on Science and Technology, and to the internationalization of the Spanish science and technology system by reaching agreements with the USA, Japan, China, and India. Spain participated for the first time in the International Genome Cancer Consortium, the G8 of Cancer, and the G4 Group for Regenerative Medicine. In addition, I boosted the map for the network of major new scientific and technological infrastructures in Spain, which consists of 44 large scientific-technical facilities distributed throughout the country, covering all scientific fields from astrophysics (the Canaries Great Telescope in the Canary Islands), accelerators (the ALBA synchrotron in Catalonia), to the environment (the Doñana Biological Station in Andalusia). As Secretary of State, I was president or head of seven major research institutions in Spain: the CIEMAT (Center for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research), the IEO (Spanish Institute of Oceanography), the INIA, Spanish Institute for Agrobiology), IGME (Spanish Institute for Mining and Geology), IAC (Astrophysical Institute of the Canary Islands), Carlos III (the Spanish Institute of Health Research) and the CSIC.
I was Chair of the EMBC (European Molecular Biology Conference), member of the Scientific Council of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), Vice President of the European Heads of Research Organizations (EUROHORCS), and chaired the first ERC call for young researcher starting grants.
3. OTHER ACTIVITIES: ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SCIENCE OUTREACH
I hold more than 20 patents and in 2001, and two colleagues launched a start-up company, Genetrix, which has grown to be one of the successful biotech companies in Spain. Initially aimed at developing new tools for disease diagnosis and treatment, it soon became the core of a group of specialized companies.