Research Areas:
- Microbiology, biotechnology, and microbial ecology with a multi-omics perspective.
- Integration of metabolomics, genomics, and microbiology to study complex biological systems.
- Respiratory microbiome and metabolome research in chronic diseases, including cystic fibrosis and post-lung transplant conditions.
- Discovery of microbial and metabolic biomarkers associated with disease progression and therapeutic response.
- Bioprospecting of bacteria associated with Panamanian frog skin as a source of bioactive metabolites.
- Identification of lipopeptides with antifungal activity and potential therapeutic applications.
- Study of metabolomic signatures linked to coral resilience and marine ecosystem health.
- Application of mass spectrometry, molecular networking, and multi-omics platforms to natural products and microbiome research.
Summary of CV:
Christian Martin is a microbiologist and biotechnologist with doctoral training and an interdisciplinary background in genomics, metabolomics, and microbial ecology. His work focuses on the use of multi-omics approaches to investigate microbial and biochemical interactions across diverse biological systems, bridging environmental, clinical, and translational research questions.
Throughout his career, he has conducted research on the respiratory microbiome and metabolome of individuals with cystic fibrosis and post-lung transplant patients, using longitudinal study designs to identify microbial and metabolic biomarkers associated with disease progression and response to FDA-approved therapies.
In the area of bioprospecting, he has contributed to the discovery of bioactive lipopeptides produced by bacteria associated with Panamanian frog skin, highlighting their potential against fungal pathogens of both ecological and clinical relevance. He has also participated in coral resilience research, identifying metabolomic signatures associated with coral responses to environmental stress.
His experience also includes contributing to scientific tools and community resources for metabolomics and multi-omics data analysis, including GNPS and the Paired Omics Data Platform. He has co-authored publications in high-impact journals such as Nature, Microbiome, Nature Ecology & Evolution, Nature Methods, Nature Communications, and The ISME Journal, among others.
He is currently interested in strengthening research programs in biodiversity, drug discovery, proteomics, and microbial biofilms as potential sources of compounds or adjuvants with biomedical relevance.
Academic degrees:
- Ph.D. in Biotechnology, Acharya Nagarjuna University (India) and INDICASAT AIP, Panama.
- B.Sc. in Biology with a concentration in Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Panama, Panama.
- High School Diploma in Science, Instituto Urracá, Veraguas, Panama.
Professional Experience:
- INDICASAT AIP (2025–present)
Postdoctoral researcher focused on developing new research areas to strengthen biodiversity, drug discovery, and proteomics programs. - Michigan State University (2019–2025)
Research Assistant III / Research Specialist in mass spectrometry and metabolomics, supporting sample preparation, data acquisition, multi-omics analysis, method development, and interdisciplinary research collaborations. - Laboratorios Vidatec, S.A. (2019)
Molecular Biologist with experience in DNA/RNA extraction, library preparation, molecular diagnostics, and laboratory operations. - INDICASAT AIP (2012–2019)
Doctoral research focused on the molecular diversity of bacteria associated with Panamanian frog skin and their biological activity against fungal pathogens. - MICROFEED, S.A. (2007–2012)
Operations Manager in nutritional supplement manufacturing, overseeing production, formulation, quality control, procurement, and logistics.
Memberships and Honors:
- National Researcher, Category I, National Research System of Panama, 2024.
- Member of the National Research System of Panama, doctoral student category, 2017.
- Poster Presentation Award, Natural Product Symposium 2019, Panama.
- Poster Presentation Award, III National and International Symposium on Bioinformatics, Biosciences and Bioengineering (B3), 2017.
- Poster Presentation Award, EMBO Conference on Chemical Biology, Heidelberg, Germany, 2016.
- Organizing Committee Member, Natural Products Symposium 2019.
Selected publications:
- Martin, C., et al. Microbiome and Metabolome Patterns after Lung Transplantation Reflect Underlying Disease and Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction. Microbiome, 2024.
- Guzior, D., Martin, C., et al. Bile Salt Hydrolase Acyltransferase Activity Expands Bile Acid Diversity. Nature, 2024.
- Roach, T., Martin, C., et al. Metabolomic Signatures of Coral Bleaching History. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2021.
- Nothias, L.-F., Martin, C., et al. Feature-Based Molecular Networking in the GNPS Analysis Environment. Nature Methods, 2020.
- Martin, C., et al. Viscosin-like Lipopeptides from Frog Skin Bacteria Inhibit Aspergillus fumigatus and Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Detected by Imaging Mass Spectrometry and Molecular Networking. Scientific Reports, 2019.
Current Projects:
- Realizing the potential of native microbes in the agricultural sector in accordance with the Nagoya Protocol. GEF7-café
- Genomics of endophytic fungi associated with coffee and cacao crops.
- Metagenomic study of clinical samples to generate knowledge about the pathogenesis, molecular ecology, and diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in Panama.
