Who's Who at the Arizona Respiratory Center

Achievements

Dr. Martinez is 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 is now an active participant in the process of developing the new version for these guidelines, which is due in 2006. He is also a member of the FDA Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee, and the Board of Extramural Advisors of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute since 1999. He has been continuously funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute since 1991. Some of Dr. Martinez's other honors include the following:

Activities

Dr. Martinez has been the Director of the Arizona Respiratory Center since 1996. During his tenure, the main goal of the Center has been to develop a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to the study of the factors that determine the development of asthma, sleep disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other chronic respiratory conditions. Under Dr. Martinez' direction, the Arizona Respiratory Center has fostered the integrated work of clinicians, epidemiologists, immunologists, pharmacologists, molecular and cellular biologists, and population geneticists, all centered around the effort to elucidate the mechanisms that determine these complex respiratory diseases, with the purpose of developing new ways to prevent and treat them. In his own work, Dr. Martinez has studied the natural history and risk factors for asthma and other wheezing disorders from birth up to early adult life. In addition, his laboratory has made important contributions to our understanding of the genetic factors that predispose for the development of asthma and allergies. Dr. Martinez is also the Principal Investigator of one of the Centers that are part of the Childhood Asthma Research and Educations (CARE) Network, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. As part of this network, studies are being conducted to determine the factors associated with response to current asthma therapy with the objective of helping pediatricians to choose the therapy that will provide the greatest relief of symptoms and the best possible quality of life for each child with asthma.

Selected Publications

• Guerra S, Lohman C, LeVan TD, Wright AL, Martinez FD, Halonen M. The Differential Effect of Genetic Variation on Soluble CD14 Levels in Human Plasma and Milk. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2004 Sep; 52(3):204-11.
• Stern D, Lohman IC, Wright AL, Taussig LM, Martinez FD, Halonen M. Dynamic Changes in Sensitization to Specific Aeroallergens in Children Raised in a Desert Environment. Clin Exp Allergy. 2004 Oct; 34(10):1563-669.
• Yu L, Martinez FD, Klimecki WT. Automated high-throughput sex-typing assay. Biotechniques. 2004 Oct; 37(4):662-4.
• Guilbert TW, Morgan WJ, Zeiger RS, Bacharier LB, Boehmer SJ, Krawiec M, Larsen G, Lemanske RF, Liu A, Mauger DT, Sorkness C, Szefler SJ, Strunk RC, Taussig LM, Martinez FD. Atopic characteristics of children with recurrent wheezing at high risk for the development of childhood asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2004 Dec; 114(6):1282-7.
• Levan TD, Von Essen S, Romberger DJ, Lambert GP, Martinez FD, Vasquez MM, Merchant JA. Polymorphisms in the CD14 Gene are Associated with Pulmonary Function in Farmers. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2005 Apr 1:171(7):773-9. 2004 Dec 10 [Epub ahead of print].
• Kurzius-Spencer M, Halonen M, Carla Lohman I, Martinez FD, Wright AL. Prenatal factors associated with the development of eczema in the first year of life. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2005 Feb; 16(1):19-26.
• Szefler SJ, Phillips BR, Martinez FD, Chinchilli VM, Lemanske RF, Strnk RC, Zeiger RS, Larsen G, Spahn JD, Bacharier LB, Bloomberg GR, Guilbert TW, Heldt G, Morgan WJ, Moss MH, Sorkness CA, Taussig LM. Characterization of within-subject responses to fluticasone and montelukast in childhood asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunolo. 2005 Feb; 115(2):233-42.
• Levy H, Raby BA, Lake S, Tantisira KG, Kwiatkowski D, Lazarus R, Silverman EK, Richter B, Klimecki WT, Vercelli D, Martinez FD, Weiss ST. Association of defensin beta-1 gene polymorphisms with asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2005 Feb; 115(2):252-8.
• Hoffjan S, Nicolae D, Ostrovnaya I, Roberg K, Evans M, Mirel DB, Steiner L, Walker K, Shult P, Gangnon RE, Gern JE, Martinez FD, Lemanske RF, Ober C. Gene-environment interaction effects on the development of immune responses in the 1 st year of life. Am J Hum Genet. 2005 Apr; 76(4):696-704. Epub 2005 Feb 22.
• Sherrill DL, Guerra S, Minervini CM, Wright AL, Martinez FD. The relation of rhinitis to recurrent cough and wheezing: A longitudinal study. Respir Med. 2005 May 13; [Epub ahead of print].

Funding Sources

• 2006-2011
  Natural History of Asthma from Birth to Early Adult Life
  National Institutes of Heath
• 2005-2009
  IL8- and GATA3-mediated Pathways in Asthma Exacerbations
  National Institutes of Health
• 2004-2009
  CARE Network: Tucson Clinical Center
  National Institutes of Health