Professor
University of Toronto, Canada
Dr. Martin is a Professor and Sanofi Pasteur Chair in Human Immunology in the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto. He completed his B.Sc. degree at McGill University, and his PhD degree in the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto. He then pursued post-doctoral training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, U.S.A., with Dr. Matthew Scharff, focusing on characterizing the molecular mechanisms of antibody responses, specifically somatic hypermutation and class switch recombination, which are two processes that are central to the efficient neutralization of pathogens and toxins. In 2003, he was recruited as a faculty member to the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Martin’s research is focused in three main areas. His main interest is on antibody production, on how high-affinity antibodies are generated, and how antibodies of different classes are produced. Both of these processes are necessary for an efficient antibody response. In addition, he has also been investigating how these processes are linked to lymphoma generation due to the now recognized link between antibody production and cancer development. Dr. Martin is also investigating the role of the gut microbiota in the etiology of colon cancer.
