• Biography

    Martínez is the Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship where he teaches courses in entrepreneurship and innovation; mentors student startups; and facilitates connecting Trinity students and faculty with entrepreneurs and accredited investors. He is responsible for all aspects of Trinity’s Entrepreneurship program, Trinity’s Technology and Licensing efforts, and helping make every student, faculty, staff and alumni become more innovative and entrepreneurial. Over the past five years, he has facilitated the launch of over 30 Trinity student ventures.

    Martínez is sought by early stage investors and senior management in private and public companies for his startup expertise in business strategy, new product and business development, customer acquisition, corporate positioning, corporate communications and investor relations, and competitive technology analysis.  He serves as a startup mentor with Geekdom, the Break Fast & Launch Culinary Business Accelerator, and the RealCo Seed Fund Program in San Antonio, TX.

    Prior to his return to his alma mater, he served on the faculty of Rollins College, Eastern Florida State College and the University of Texas at El Paso where he taught Organic Chemistry and as a Senior Scientist at the Scripps Research Institute-Florida.  Martínez’s research effort is focused on the synthesis and application of small molecules to probe and study the biology of infectious disease, cancer, immune response, oxidative stress and cell cycle control.  He holds two patents in organic synthesis.

    Prior to his academic appointments, Martínez also served as a senior account executive with Feinstein-Kean Healthcare, an Ogilvy PR Worldwide Company, and as a consultant with Kendall Strategies, the agency's consulting practice.   He also co-founded BGV Strategies, a strategy consulting firm that served startups an small businesses in southwest Texas and southern New Mexico. Martínez also has extensive experience with K-12 science education, scientific workforce diversity and American competitiveness.

    • Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Harvard University
    • A.M. in Organic Chemistry, Harvard University
    • B.S. with Honors in Chemistry, Trinity University
    • Gianni, D.; Taulet, N.; Zhang, H.; DerMardirossian, C.; Kister, J.; Martinez, L.; Roush, W.J.; Brown, S.J.; Bokoch, G.M.; Rosen, H. “A Novel and Specific NADPH Oxidase-1 (Nox1) Small-Molecule Inhibitor Blocks the Formation of Functional Invadopodia in Human Colon Cancer Cells” ACS Chem. Biol., 2010, 5, 981–993
    • Ramos, E.I.; Krauth-Siegel, R. L.; Garza, K. M.; Bader, J.; Martinez, L.E.; Maldonado, R.A.;;“2.3-diphenyl-1,4- Naphthoquinone: A Potential Chemotherapeutic Agent against Trypanosoma cruzi” J. Parasitology, 2009, 95(2), 461-6
    • Muthian, S.; Aguirre, A.L.; Leyva, M.; Quan, B.; Martinez, L.E.;; “Microwave-assisted iridium catalyzed [2 +2 +2] cycloaddition of resin-bound dipropargylamine with alkynes” Tetrahedron Letters, 2007, 48, 7698.
    • Muthian, S.; Garcia-Martinez, I.; Li, Q.; Estrada, A.; Martinez, L.E.;; “Microwave-Assisted Solid-Phase Dötz Benzannulation Reactions: A Facile Synthesis of 2,3-Disubstituted-1,4 Naphthoquinones” Tetrahedron Letters, 2005, 44, 7545
    • Montoya, J.; Varela-Ramirez, A.; Shanmugasundram, M.; Martinez, L.E.; Primm, T.P.; Aguilera, R.J. “Tandem screening of toxic compounds on GFP-labeled bacteria and cancer cells in microtiter plates” Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2005, 335, 367
    • Montoya, J; Varela, A.; Estrada, A.; Martinez, L.E.; Garza, K.M.;; Aguilera, R.J. “A fluorescence based rapid screening assay for cytotoxic compounds” Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2004, 325, 1517
    • Tran, T.; Saheba, E.; Arcerio, A. V.; Chavez, V.; Li, Q.; Martínez, L.E.; Primm, T.P. “Quinones as Antimycobacterial Agents” Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, 2004, 12, 4809
    • Martínez, L.E.; “Synthesis of Quinones and Phenols on Solid Support”, U.S. Patent No. 7,226,661B2, Issued: June 5, 2007
    • Jacobsen, E.N.; Leighton, J.L; Martínez, L.E.; “Stereoselective Ring Opening Reactions”, U.S. Patent No. 5,665,890, Issued: Sep 9, 1997
    • Organic Chemistry
    • Chemical Biology
    • Innovation
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Design Thinking
    • Strategy
    • Organic Chemistry
    • Chemical Biology
    • Drug Design
    • Chemistry

    Grants

    • Rollins College Faculty Student Collaborative Research Program 2012 $7,000
      Synthesis of Fluorescently Labeled Metformin, Catalytic Synthesis of 1,4-Diketones
    • Florida Space Grant Consortium 2011-2013 $50,000
      The Physics and Chemistry of Astrobiology
    • Welch Foundation, 2007-2010 $150,000
      Solid Supported Synthesis and Chemistry of Aryne-Chromium(tricarbonyl) Complexes
    • Welch Foundation, 2004-2007 $150,000
      Solid Supported Parallel Synthesis of Biaryl Phenols and Quinones
    • NIH-NIGMS SCORE 2S06GM008012, 2003-2007 $562,881
      Combinatorial Synthesis of Biologically Active Libraries through Chromium-Mediated Reactions
    • NIH-NIAID RCE for Biodefense 1U54AI057156, 2003-2006 $457,268
      Transition Metal-Mediated SPOS for Biodefense Discovery (Subproject)
    • NSF, 2005-2006 $5,000
      Spatial Visualization from Nano- (and smaller) Scales to Planetary Scales
    • Welch Foundation, 2001-2004 $150,000
      Transition Metal-Mediated Cyclizations on Solid Support
    • Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Award, 2002-2004 $45,854
      Chromium-Mediated Benzannulations on Solid Support
    • ONR Instrumentation and Research Support for HSI’s, 2001-2002 $250,000
      Ion Trap LC/MS System for Teaching and Research

    Awards

    • Professing Excellence Teaching Award Nominee, Rollins College
    • Cottrell College Science Award, Research Corporation
    • Faculty Newcomer of the Year, Office of Sponsored Research, UT-El Paso
    • Volvo Graduate Fellow, National Academy of Sciences Frontiers of Science Symposium
    • Outstanding Teaching Award, University of Illinois
    • Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellow
    • Sigma Xi
    • Trinity University Murchison Scholar
    • Hispanic National Merit Scholar
    • Member/Mentor-Geekdom
    • Resource Partner-Café Commerce
    • BioMedSA
    • Advisory Committee - South Texas Regional Center for Innovation and Commercialization (STRCIC)
    • Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM)
    • Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC)
    • University Network of Incubators and Accelerators, Council for Undergraduate Research (CUR).
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