Fernando Martinez

Fernando Martinez

Professor, Pediatrics
Director, Asthma / Airway Disease Research Center
Endowed Chair, Swift - McNear
Regents Professor
Professor, Genetics - GIDP
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Contact
(520) 626-5954

Research Interest

Dr. Fernando D. Martinez is a Regents’ Professor and Director of the Asthma & Airway Disease Research Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Dr. Martinez is a world-renowned expert, and one of the most highly regarded researchers, in the field of childhood asthma. His primary research interests are the natural history, genetics, and treatment of childhood asthma. His groundbreaking research has had an impact on his field in numerous ways, most prominent among them the development of the concept of the early origins of asthma and COPD. This concept is now widely accepted as the potential basis for the design of new strategies for the prevention of these devastating illnesses affecting millions of children and adults worldwide. In addition, Dr. Martinez has made important contributions to our understanding of the role of gene-environment interactions in the development of asthma and allergies. He has also been the principal investigator of one of the Clinical Centers that are part of the NHLBI Asthma Treatment Networks, which have contributed fundamental new evidence on which to base national guidelines for the treatment of the disease. Dr. Martinez currently serves on national scientific boards including the NHLBI National Advisory Council and the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. He was a member of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program that was responsible for the development of the Expert Panel Report: Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma in 1997 and its first revision in 2001. He also has been a member of the FDA Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee and the Board of Extramural Advisors of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Dr. Martinez’s research and vision are well detailed in more than 250 original research papers and editorials, many in collaboration with investigators from all over the world. He is frequently invited to give keynote presentations at national and international meetings.

Publications

Beamer, P., Loh, M. M., Klimecki, W., Ornelas Van Horne, Y., Sugeng, A. J., Lothrop, N. Z., Billheimer, D. D., Guerra, S., Lantz, R. C., Canales, R. A., & Martinez, F. (2016). Association of children's urinary CC16 levels with arsenic concentrations in multiple environmental media. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
BIO5 Collaborators
Paloma Beamer, Dean Billheimer, Stefano Guerra, Walter Klimecki, Clark Lantz, Fernando Martinez
Beamer, P. I., Klimecki, W. T., Loh, M., Van Horne, Y. O., Sugeng, A. J., Lothrop, N., Billheimer, D., Guerra, S., Lantz, R. C., Canales, R. A., & Martinez, F. D. (2016). Response to García-Nieto et al. Comments on Beamer et al. Association of Children's Urinary CC16 Levels with Arsenic Concentrations in Multiple Environmental Media. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 521. International journal of environmental research and public health, 13(10).
BIO5 Collaborators
Paloma Beamer, Dean Billheimer, Stefano Guerra, Walter Klimecki, Clark Lantz, Fernando Martinez

We would like to thank the editors for providing us with the opportunity to respond to the points raised by Dr. García Nieto.[...].

Stein, M. M., Hrusch, C. L., Gozdz, J., Igartua, C., Pivniouk, V., Murray, S. E., Ledford, J. G., Marques dos Santos, M., Anderson, R. L., Metwali, N., Neilson, J. W., Maier, R. M., Gilbert, J. A., Holbreich, M., Thorne, P. S., Martinez, F. D., von Mutius, E., Vercelli, D., Ober, C., & Sperling, A. I. (2016). Innate Immunity and Asthma Risk in Amish and Hutterite Farm Children. The New England journal of medicine, 375(5), 411-21.
BIO5 Collaborators
Julie Ledford, Raina Margaret Maier, Fernando Martinez

The Amish and Hutterites are U.S. agricultural populations whose lifestyles are remarkably similar in many respects but whose farming practices, in particular, are distinct; the former follow traditional farming practices whereas the latter use industrialized farming practices. The populations also show striking disparities in the prevalence of asthma, and little is known about the immune responses underlying these disparities.

Berry, C. E., Billheimer, D., Jenkins, I. C., Lu, Z. J., Stern, D. A., Gerald, L. B., Carr, T. F., Guerra, S., Morgan, W. J., Wright, A. L., & Martinez, F. D. (2016). A Distinct Low Lung Function Trajectory from Childhood to the Fourth Decade of Life. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 194(5), 607-12.
BIO5 Collaborators
Dean Billheimer, Stefano Guerra, Fernando Martinez

Low maximally attained lung function increases the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease irrespective of the subsequent rate of lung function decline.

Chang, E. H., Willis, A. L., McCrary, H. C., Noutsios, G. T., Le, C. H., Chiu, A. G., Mansfield, C. J., Reed, D. R., Brooks, S. G., Adappa, N. D., Palmer, J. N., Cohen, N. G., Stern, D. A., Guerra, S., & Martinez, F. D. (2016). Association between the CDHR3 rs6967330 risk allele and chronic rhinosinusitis. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology.
BIO5 Collaborators
Eugene Chang, Stefano Guerra, Fernando Martinez