People

David is originally from El Salvador. David earned his B.S. in Microbiology with Distinction from the University of Oklahoma in 2013. David then completed his Ph.D. in Microbiology studying antibody responses to HIV at Duke University in Sallie Permar’s lab. David did his postdoc with Ralph Baric at UNC Chapel Hill and worked on coronaviruses before they were perceived or known to be important human viral pathogens. David is interested in studying various aspects of viral pathogenesis, viral infection and inflammation, and immunity. David’s lab is currently using coronaviruses, flaviviruses, and togaviruses as models to understand viral pathogenesis, inflammation, and immunity. David hopes to use scientific insights made in his lab to make better vaccines and therapies to treat viral infections. David is a Hanna H. Gray Faculty Fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. When not in lab or encouraging his lab members, you can find David raising his toddler, Cameron, playing with his cats, Meera and Jojen, enjoying the seasonal activities of New England, including swimming at the beach, mowing his lawn in the summer, eating local seafood, apple picking in the fall, leaf peeping in the fall, skiing, hiking, plotting his next vacation (anywhere in New England and abroad) with his wife Kelsey and toddler, and writing (grants and papers) in the wee hours of the morning while the house sleeps. 

Fun fact: David has always wanted to live in New England and eventually found his way there.

Emma is from Connecticut, making her the one and only northeasterner in our group! Emma received her Master’s in Infectious Disease & Global Health from Tufts University. She decided to pursue this course of study because of her interest in human health. Her studies were especially timely because she started and finished her degree during the COVID-19 pandemic. After obtaining her master’s, Emma worked at Charles River Laboratories, where she gained experience in biotech. Back in Connecticut and at Yale, Emma is David’s right hand man and keeps the lab running smoothly. She assists everyone in their work, tirelessly offering moral support and an extra pair of hands. When Emma has headphones on, there is a 95% chance that she is listening to kpop. She has an adorable photocard stand on her desk with a weekly rotating picture of kpop idols. When Emma’s not in the lab, she enjoys playing videogames, such as Animal Crossing or Pokemon. She also loves binge watching anime and sitcoms.

Fun fact: The building where Emma did her master’s was haunted, and she has seen a ghost!

Junghwa was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, and majored in Systems Biology at Yonsei University, Seoul. Junghwa joined the Martinez lab as a postdoc in September 2023. As an undergraduate, Junghwa was greatly fascinated by the clever immune evasion mechanisms of viruses and how they mimic host immune systems. In 2013, She joined Jin Won Cho’s lab at Yonsei University as an undergraduate and gained experience in glycobiology. This made her recognize the knowledge gaps between glycobiology and immunology, leading her to pursue a PhD in the same lab. Junghwa studied how the protein O-GlcNAcylation (a single sugar post-translational modification occurring primarily in the nucleus, cytoplasm, and mitochondria) regulates the host innate immune response against RNA virus and gram-negative bacterial infections. In the Martinez lab, she is researching pathogenesis mechanisms of neuroinvasive flaviviruses. Another major research area of focus for Junghwa is to optimize effective respiratory mucosal vaccine strategies against coronaviruses. When Junghwa is not in the lab, she enjoys cooking various international cuisines, including Korean food, and having a good time with beer. She also loves listening to old K-pop and is good at Taekwondo kicks (although she does not have a belt).

Post-doctoral Associate

Fahima was born and raised in Bangladesh, spending her childhood in Chittagong, a coastal city. She later moved to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, to pursue her undergraduate degree in pharmacy. Eager to gain research experience, she moved to South Korea to pursue a master's degree in biomedical engineering at Chonnam National University, Yeosu campus. During her master's program, she worked on plant genetics, handling approximately 1,500 genetically diverse wild soybean species collected from South Korea, North Korea, Japan, and Russia. Moreover, her interest in beneficial microbes led her to participate in various small projects aimed at developing functional food using probiotics and plant-based chemicals, funded by the Korea Small and Medium Business Administration. 

Her passion for research propelled her to start her PhD at the University of Queensland, Australia.  Her PhD was mainly focused on developing 3D-microfluidic human heart models to study the pathological consequences of cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis, and to utilize these models for drug discovery. In addition to her main project, her expertise in developing human organ models in laboratory conditions enabled her to design a humanized blood vessel-on-chip model to study inflammation-mediated complications initiated by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Furthermore, she gained extensive experience in designing engineered nanoparticles for targeted treatment.

Growing up witnessing outbreaks of various viral diseases such as Dengue, Chikungunya, bird flu, and Nipah virus in her country, Fahima always aspired to work with emerging viruses. She was thrilled to join Martinez's lab, which is dedicated to the study of emerging viruses. In the Martinez's lab, she is focused on defining the protective and disease-enhancing functions of antibodies against the dengue virus. Additionally, she is committed to developing mRNA-LNP vaccines to induce protective immunity against multiple serotypes of dengue virus.

Outside the lab, Fahima occupies her time with grocery shopping, cooking, talking to friends and family, or watching cartoons.

Fun fact: She loves to sketch and paint, whenever she can find free time.

Jordan is a Microbial Pathogenesis PhD student who is originally from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Jordan graduated summa cum laude from Davidson College in 2023, where she earned her B.S. in Biology and French and Francophone Studies and received High Honors for her undergraduate thesis work investigating novel phage defense proteins. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she became interested in infectious diseases of global health importance. She joined Yale’s Microbiology PhD program in the fall of 2023 and joined the Martinez Lab in April 2024. In the Martinez Lab, Jordan is investigating memory B cells and antibodies generated  in response to Dengue and Yellow Fever vaccination. She is also investigating Chikungunya pathogenesis and associated chronic inflammation. Jordan is passionate about public and global health and motivated by the hope that her work can benefit humankind. Jordan is also committed to science outreach, education, and communication. When she’s not in the Martinez Lab, you can find Jordan paying social calls on her friends in other labs, or finding new ways to release her creative energy. In her free time, Jordan loves to travel and make connections with people around the world. She is also fluent in Spanish and French and has the distinction of having lived in 4 countries and 6 states in the 5 years between finishing high school and starting at Yale. Jordan loves being a part of the graduate student community at Yale and is involved in many extracurriculars, including the graduate and professional student a capella group, the Yale Citations!

Fun fact: Jordan’s dream is to have two pet highland cows named Henriette (Henny) and Penelope (Penny).

Lab Alumni

Emma (Em) Keeler
Microbiology Rotation Student
January-March 2024

Julia Barrett
Immunobiology Rotation Student
January-March 2024