Pilar Martín has a degree in Biological Sciences (1996) and is Doctor in Immunology (2001), both degrees were obtained at the Universidad Complutense from Madrid. During her thesis, under the supervision of Dr. C. Ardavín, she studied the origin and characterized murine dendritic cells (DCs) in homeostasis and after infection by the Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus (in collaboration with Dr. Acha-Orbea at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Laussane, Switzerland). Her relevant contributions to the field of DCs, such as the characterization of a new subtype with tolerogenic potential, the murine plasmacytoid DCs, were published in Nature (2002), Blood (1999, 2000a, 2000b, 2001, 2002a, 2002b), J Immunol (1999), Trends Immunol (2001) or J Virol (1997), among others. In 2001, Dr. Martín joined Prof. Moscat's group at the Centro de Biología Molecular (CSIC) as a postdoctoral I3P researcher. Her studies focused on the role of atypical PKCs in T and B cell signaling and function (Mol Cell 2001; EMBO J. 2002, 2003, 2004). In collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. Rennert (Biogen, Cambridge, Boston, MA), Martín described the role of zPKC, Par-4 and p62, in the differentiation of Th2 cells in asthmatic processes (PNAS 2005; EMBO J. 2006). In 2006, Dr. Moscat's laboratory moved to the University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati Children's Hospital, OH) and in 2007 Dr. Martín joined the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), as a Ramón y Cajal Researcher and Junior Group Leader. At the CNIC, she started an independent line of research focused on the study of T cells in autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases, and was promoted to Assistant Professor in 2012. The group is focused on the study of the adaptive immune system and micro-RNAs in the development of autoimmunity and cardiovascular diseases such as myocarditis, myocardial infarction or atherosclerosis and in the discovery of new circulating biomarkers for these diseases, both in mice and in patients. Her contributions to the field as a principal investigator have been published in prestigious journals (Circulation 2010 and 2019, Mol Cell Biol 2010, 2014 and 2017, J Allergy Clin Invest 2010 and 2013, J Autoimmunity 2014, J Am Soc Nephrol. 2016, Nature Immunol. 2016, ELife 2016, Sci Transl Med 2016, New England J Med 2020). Other contributions include invited reviews in journals such as (Cardiovasc Res 2010; Science Signaling 2011; Front Immunol 2012; TRENDS Mol Med 2013, Cell & Mol. Immunol 2020). In 2016 she received a Leonardo Grant from the BBVA Foundation with the project: “Novel strategy for the differential diagnosis between acute myocarditis and acute myocardial infarction”. Her group has developed two patents: "Method for diagnosing cardiomyopathies" and "Kit for the diagnosis of acute myocarditis".
