People

The Martinez Lab in 2025

 

Principal Investigator

Luis R. Martinez, Ph.D., MBA

Luis was born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico and lived almost 20 years in New York City. He earned his B.S. in Industrial Microbiology from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, his M.S. in Microbiology from Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, and his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.

 

Research Assistant Professor and Lab Manager

Claudia Charles Niño, Ph.D.

Claudia was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. She earned her B.S. in Clinical Chemistry from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León. She lived in Ciudad de México for eight years, where she obtained her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the National Autonomous University of México. In addition, she was an associate professor at the University of Guadalajara for nine years before arriving to the lab in 2021.

 

Post-doctoral Scholars

Yehia Elgammal

Yehia was born and raised in Egypt. He moved to the U.S. to pursue his higher education, earning a B.S. in Physiology and a M.S. in Anatomy from Saint Louis University. His passion for fungal pathogens emerged during his Ph.D. training at Virginia Tech.

 

Graduate students

Marcus Hunter

Marcus was born in Georgia and raised in the suburbs of Austin, TX. He earned his B.S.A. in Biology from The University of Texas at Austin, then pursued a Master’s in Microbiology & Immunology at Tulane University. He’s currently an MD/Ph.D. student with a Ph.D. concentration in Immunology and Microbiology.

Melissa Munzen

Melissa was born in New York and was raised in the Midwest. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Music for Piano Performance, as well as a B.S. in Microbiology & Cell Science from the University of Florida. She is a Ph.D. student in the Biomedical Sciences program with concentration in Immunology and Microbiology.

 

Undergraduate students

Sebastian Fidelia

Sebastian was born in Naples, Florida, and lived in South Florida until his admission to the University of Florida in 2024. He is pursuing a B.S. in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry, but is strongly interested in Cognitive Neuroscience.  He plans to pursue a career in medicine.

Adrian Requejo

Adrian was born in Naples, Florida and raised in Ica, Peru. He moved back to Florida in 2022 and earned an Associate of Arts degree in Biological Sciences from Santa Fe College. He is currently pursuing a B.S. in Microbiology at the University of Florida. Adrian aspires to pursue a career in medicine.