André Martins receives new role as W3 professor

Martins (born 1984) graduated with a M.Sc. in Biochemistry at the University of Coimbra (Portugal) in 2008. In 2013, he earned a double Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Coimbra and the University of Orleans. From November 2013, Martins’ spent a postdoctoral phase at the University of Texas at Dallas (USA) and UT Southwestern Medical Center. In 2019, his path led him to the Medical Faculty of Tübingen as a research group leader. In Tübingen, he led the research group "Hyperpolarized Metabolism and Multi-Imaging Sciences," at the Werner Siemens Imaging Center which transitioned into an independent Sofja Kovalevskaja Research Group in 2020 (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation). With his appointment, the research group has changed its name to "Advanced Preclinical Metabolic Imaging and Cell Engineering."

The W3 professorship, partially supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, focuses on developing non-invasive metabolic sensors and technologies for clinical diagnostics and therapy. The goal of Martins and his team is to functionally enable non-invasive monitoring, prediction, selection, and image-guided tumor metabolic therapies. The research will support image-guided response to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies, cellular immunotherapies (e.g., CAR T cells or adoptive T cell transfer), and combinatorial therapies.

Martins' research focuses on understanding relevant human pathology and physiology paradigms through precise non-invasive biomedical imaging. He and his team use highly translational molecular and metabolic imaging approaches to determine the role of metabolism in various diseases in vivo. This research is at the interface of different scientific fields of oncology, biomedical imaging, and basic sciences (biophysics, biochemistry, chemistry). His team is also engaged in developing the next generation of non-invasive hybrid metabolic sensors for biomedical imaging. Martin's research has received several awards, most recently the coveted 2020 Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Sofja Kovalevskaja Award. 

As part of the iFIT Cluster of Excellence, he is currently involved in setting up a biochemical/biomedical laboratory in the iFIT facilities to develop the next generation of hybrid probes for metabolic imaging, genetically engineered intelligent cells, and metabolic modulators.

Away from the daily grind of research, he prefers to spend his time traveling with his family, preferably on two wheels. He also enjoys a good book on quiet evenings, listening to music, and attending music festivals in the summer (as long as there is no pandemic). He can sometimes be found jogging along the Neckar River or working out at UKFit with friends.