DrDavid Martinez Martin

Dr David Martinez-Martin is a physicist and innovator who has created multiple patented technologies that are already in commercialisation. David is Deputy Director of Sydney Microscopy & Microanalysis, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Sydney, and former co-chair of the sensors and diagnostics cluster of the Nanohealth Network. He has established and leads the Strategic Research Partnership with Bruker (world leading company in instrumentation and diagnostic solutions), creating a nanomedicine facility that is the first of its kind in Australia. David was also co-founder and co-convenor of the Sydney Innovation Program, which brought together students from across the University to identify, understand and explore innovative solutions at the nexus between law, science, and technology. His research spans from surface and materials science to finding new biomarkers for health and disease, and cell physiology, which in many cases requires him to develop his own instrumentation. He is an expert in nanotechnology, single molecule and cellular biophysics, and scanning probe microscopies.

David is the principal inventor of a patented technology known as inertial picobalance, which is used to study the mass regulation of a single or multiple cells in real time. Understanding how cells regulate their mass has enormous potential to transform the way we diagnose, monitor and treat conditions such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and ageing. David is also principal inventor of other significant patented technologies which have been internationally licensed to leading nanotech companies.

In 2012 David was awarded the very competitive and prestigious international long-term EMBO fellowship (European Molecular Biology Organization) and moved to ETH Zürich (Switzerland) where he pioneered studies about the real-time dynamics of cell mass in mammalian and yeast cells, and the effect of viral infections in a cell’s mass dynamics. There he also developed a single-cell viral infection method and invented the inertial picobalance among other technologies. He remained until he commenced his position at the University of Sydney in 2019.

David completed a BSc/MSc in Physics from the University of Valladolid, where he was awarded the University Medal (Extraordinary Award of Degree) for an outstanding sustained academic record over the five-year degree. He also holds a PhD in physics (Summa Cum Laude) from the Autonomous University of Madrid, which was awarded in 2011. His PhD research was distinguished with the prestigious national research award in experimental and technological sciences from the Spanish Royal Academy of Doctors.

David’s research achievements and efforts to promote the development of effective innovation ecosystems have been honoured by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO, 2022), the Spanish Professional Association of Physicists’ Excellence Award (2016), the Alberto Elzaburu Foundation’s Innovation Award (2018), and the University of Sydney’s Research Accelerator (SOAR) prize (2020), among other honours.