Dr. William J. Martin II

Dr. William J. Martin II joined NIEHS as associate director for translational biomedicine on Mar. 6. Translational biomedicine focuses on moving research results from the NIEHS portfolio into clinical practice.

Martin will ensure that the institute's research is more rapidly integrated into patient care. He will develop new clinical research programs, as well as interdisciplinary training initiatives to extend the influence of environmental health sciences into the clinical arena.

"As a physician-scientist who has worked in both the research and clinical arenas, Dr. Martin is uniquely qualified to help bridge the gap between research and patient care," said NIEHS director Dr. David Schwartz. "He shares my vision that environmental health science can provide unique approaches to understanding diseases that affect people around the world. I am thrilled that he has agreed to join the leadership team at NIEHS. He brings a wealth of professional and practical experience, and also a vibrant creativity to this new role."

Martin served as dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and is a past president of the American Thoracic Society. He also served as director of pulmonary and critical care at Indiana University for 12 years before becoming executive associate dean for clinical affairs at the university's School of Medicine.

Martin volunteered aboard the Navy hospital ship Comfort as part of Project Hope during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. He helped establish clinics and provide medical services in devastated areas of Mississippi.

"I plan to approach my new position at NIEHS with the same sense of commitment and urgency I felt while working with the Katrina relief efforts," he said.

Martin received his M.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1974, and completed his pulmonary and critical care training at Mayo Clinic in 1979. Following completion of his research training in the Pulmonary Branch, NHLBI, he joined the staff of Mayo Clinic as a clinician-investigator in 1981. While on faculty at Indiana University, he served as a health policy fellow, U.S. Senate, labor and human resources committee in 1995.

He has written more than 130 research and clinical papers and has been NIH-funded for the past 24 years. Martin has received numerous awards including the Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest award presented to a citizen of Indiana by the state's governor.

NIDDK recently welcomed five new members to its advisory council. They are (top, from l) Dr. David M. Klurfeld, a national program leader in human nutrition in the Agricultural Research Service, Department of Agriculture; Dr. Mitchell A. Lazar, professor of medicine and genetics and chief of the division of endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Margery Deutz Perry, past chair of research at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International. In the front row are (from l) Dr. David H. Perlmutter, chair of pediatrics and professor of cell biology and physiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and physician-in-chief at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh; and Dr. Juanita Lynn Merchant, professor of internal medicine and molecular and integrative physiology, University of Michigan. At right is NIDDK acting director Dr. Griffin Rodgers.

NIGMS director Dr. Jeremy Berg (c) recently welcomed two new members to the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council. They are Dr. Paula E. Stephan, professor of economics and senior associate at the Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies; and Dr. Edwin S. Flores, a managing partner at Chalker Flores, LLP, a law firm that focuses on intellectual property and patent prosecution in areas such as biotechnology, nanotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

back to top of page