Multidisciplinary approaches are central aspects of all of our experiments. We routinely use anaerobic microbiology, microbial genomics, molecular genetics, glycobiology and other approaches to better understand the physiology of human gut microorganisms and their viruses.
Below is a list of people in the lab and their current research interests. We have generated a number of experimental protocols and other resources for the research community. Please visit the strains and protocol page to find out more.
Principal Investigator:
Eric C. Martens, PhD
Dr. Martens received his PhD in 2005 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working with Heidi Goodrich-Blair, PhD on the biology of the entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema carpocapsae, and its bacterial symbiont, Xenorhabdus nematophila. He then trained with Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD at Washington University School of Medicine, investigating the physiology of beneficial human gut bacteria, especially members of the Bacteroidetes and their interactions with complex carbohydrates. His current research interests include investigating the roles of gut bacteria in human digestive physiology, the gut microbiome in inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer, genetic exchange between environmental and gut bacteria and mechanism through which gut bacteria break down dietary fiber polysaccharides and mucin glycoproteins.
Twitter: @EricCMartens1
Postdoctoral Researchers and Fellows:
Matthew Ostrowski, PhD
Dr. Ostrowski earned his PhD in 2017 from Stanford University in the lab of Dr. Chaitan Khosla. His research projects in the Martens Lab are focused on bacterial degradation of the food additive polysaccharide, xanthan gum, and the proteolytic mechanisms through which gut bacteria degrade intestinal mucus glycoproteins.
Gabriel Vasconcelos Pereira, PhD
Dr. Vasconcelos Pereira received his PhD in July 2018 working with Dr. Isaac Cann at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His research interests in the Martens Lab are focused on the timing and biochemical composition of dietary fibers that restore beneficial gut bacteria and suppress the activity of mucus-degrading bacteria. He is leading a project to investigate the dietary and gut microbial contributions to inflammation development in mice lacking the cytokine IL-10, which has been associated with human neonatal IBD.
Graduate Students
Sadie Gugel, BS
Sadie earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and performed research with Dr. Hannah Carey investigating seasonal microbiome changes in hibernating or eeding ground squirrels. Her projects in the Martens Lab are focused on the enzymology of mucin glycoprotein degradation in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Ruminococcus torques and the regulation of this complex process in response to the dozens of different O-linked glycan structures that are present in mucin. Sadie is a trainee on the NIH-sponsored Cellular Biotechnology Training Program training grant.
Jaime Fuentes, MS
Jaime earned his MS at Sacramento State. His projects in the Martens Lab are focused on the role of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron phase-variable surface proteins (S-layer proteins and nutrient receptors) in evading or promoting infection by bacterial viruses (bacteriophages). Jaime is a Rackham Merit Fellow and is a trainee on the NIH-sponsored Genetics Training Program training grant.
Ling Qiu, BS
Ling earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison working with Dr. J. P. Van Pijkeren. Her projects in the Martens Lab are focused on isolating new bacteria, especially Gram-positive Firmicutes, that are able degrade dietary fiber polysaccharides and mucin glycans.
Laboratory Technicians
Nicholas Pudlo, MS
Nick is the lab's manager and also carries several research projects. His main project involves researching the mechanisms through which B. thetaiotaomicron and other Bacteroides exert catabolite repression on the various diet and host polysaccharides they encounter in the gut.
Former Lab Members:
Nathan T. Porter, PhD
Dr. Porter received his PhD from the lab in Fall 2017. He used molecular genetic approaches to study how one prominent human intestinal bacterium, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, interacts with its host and adapts to the ever-changing environment of the intestine. Particularly, he investigated bacterial polysaccharide capsule biosynthesis and the ways in which production of variable surface capsules mediates interactions with the host immune system and bacteriophage. Nathan is currently doing postdoctoral research with Dr. Johan Larsbrink at Chalmers University if Gothenburg, Sweden.
Mahesh Desai, PhD
Dr. Desai is currently a tenure-track investigator at the Luxembourg Institute of Health.
Elizabeth Cameron, PhD
Dr. Cameron earned her PhD in 2014 and is currently doing postdoctoral research at UT-Southwest and University of Minnesota.
Yao Xiao, PhD
Dr. Xiao is currently working at Thermo Fisher
Theresa Rogers, PhD
Dr. Rogers is currently an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University
Karthik Urs, MS
Karthik is currently pursuing his PhD research at the University of Texas-Dallas