November 4, 2024: We are pleased to welcome Cerissa van Walstijn to the group. Cerissa is hired on our recently awarded ERC PoC project aimed at further establishing the potential of next generation lipopeptide antibiotics.
October 16, 2024: Our manuscript reporting the first total synthesis and structural revision of the antitubercular natural product evybactin is now published in Chemistry – A European Journal. Congrats to Vlad on his first, first author paper!
September 16, 2024: We are pleased to welcome Dr. Angel Ruiz Moreno to the group. As a postdoc Angel will lead the computational drug design efforts in our NWO-TTW project aimed at further establishing the anti-cancer potential of NNMT inhibitors.
August 7, 2024: Pleased to announce that our manuscript reporting the development of a new class of semisynthetic glycopeptides with potent antibacterial activity is now out in Science Translational Medicine. This was a massive project spanning a number of years and involving numerous excellent collaborators. Special congrats to co-first authors Emma and Elma!
July 11, 2024: Our paper describing the rational design of potent next-generation bacitracin analogues is now published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Congrats to first author Ned and all other co-authors!
June 30, 2024: Our manuscript reporting the synthesis of novel carbapenem/metallo-β-lactamase inhibitor conjugates is now published in ChemMedChem. Congrats to Meiling on her first, first author paper!
June 28, 2024: We are pleased to announce that we’ve been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept grant from to continue pre-clinical development of our promising next generation lipopeptide antibiotics.
June 19, 2024: Our manuscript reporting the discovery of a novel class of DNA gyrase inhibitors is now out in Nature Chemistry. This was a fantastic collaboration with the van der Stelt group. Congrats to co-first authors Alexander and Ioli and everyone else involved in this great multidisciplinary project!
March 12, 2024: Our review article providing a 10-year update on the development of polymyxin antibiotics is accepted for publication in ACS Infectious Diseases. Congrats to first author Jaco!
February 28, 2024: Congratulations to Jaco for successfully defending his PhD thesis – welcome to the club dr. Slingerland!
January 23, 2024: Congratulations to Karol for successfully defending his PhD thesis – welcome to the club dr. Al Ayed!
January 17, 2024: Congratulations to Nicola for successfully defending her PhD thesis – welcome to the club dr. Wade!
January 10, 2024: We are pleased to announce that we’ve been awarded a NACTAR grant from NWO to continue pre-clinical development of our promising new glycopeptide antibiotic EVG7.
January 1, 2024: We are pleased to welcome Dr. Ned Buijs to the group. As a postdoc Ned will lead the medicinal chemistry efforts in our NWO-TTW project aimed at further establishing the anti-cancer potential of NNMT inhibitors.
December 20, 2023: Congratulations to Ned for successfully defending his PhD thesis – welcome to the club dr. Buijs!
October 16, 2023: We are happy to welcome postdoctoral fellow dr. Stephen Croke. Stephen’s projects will involve the synthesis of novel anticancer agents.
October 10, 2023: Our manuscript reporting the synthesis of next-generation semisynthetic polymyxins with reduced nephrotoxicity is accepted for publication in RSC Medicinal Chemistry. Congrats to first author Jaco and all other co-authors!
September 19, 2023: We are pleased to announce that we’ve been awarded a grant from the Applied Science Domain of NWO to further explore the anti-cancer potential of NNMT inhibitors.
July 15, 2023: We are happy to welcome back former master student Meg Ferguson now as an official PhD candidate in the group! Meg’s projects will involve the synthesis of novel antibiotics and next generation anti-inflammatory agents.
June 20, 2023: Congratulations to Ioli for successfully defending her PhD thesis – welcome to the club dr. Kotsogianni!
May 10, 2023: Our joint review article with the Cochrane group on the topic of cell wall active antibiotics is accepted for publication in Chemical Communications. Congrats to co-first authors Ned and Eilidh!
March 31, 2023: Our manuscript reporting the total synthesis and structure assignment of the relacidine family of lipopeptide antibiotics is accepted for publication in ACS Infectious Diseases. Congrats to first author Karol and all other co-authors!
April 18, 2023: Our joint manuscript with the Cochrane group investigating linear analogues of brevicidine and laterocidine is accepted for publication in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Congrats to co-first authors Ross and Karol!
December 30, 2022: Our joint manuscript with the van der Stelt group investigating oxadiazolones as a new class of anti-MRSA antibiotics is accepted for publication in Journal of the American Chemical Society. Congrats to co-first authors Alexander and Ioli!
November 18, 2022: Congrats to Jaco for having his paper on the synthesis of disulfide-containing semisynthetic polymyxins published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
November 7, 2022: Congrats to Jaco for having his work on the synthesis and study of the enantiomer of polymyxin B published in ACS Infectious Diseases – Jaco’s first, first-author paper!
November 1, 2022: Congrats to Nicola for having her paper on the synthesis of the BAM complex inhibitor MRL-494 and related analogues published in ACS Infectious Diseases.
October 23, 2022: We are happy to see group member Vlad Lysenko promoted from visiting Erasmus student to an official PhD candidate in the group. Vlad’s projects will involve the synthesis of novel lipopeptides and next generation antibiotics exploiting novel targets.
October 26, 2022: Congrats to Ned for having his paper on the synthesis of bacitracin and related analogues published in ChemBioChem – Ned’s first, first-author paper!
October 12, 2022: Congratulations to Emma for successfully defending her PhD thesis – welcome to the club dr. van Groesen!
October 4, 2022: Welcome to new group member and PhD candidate Yunhao Duan. Yunhao’s projects will involve the laterocidine family of antibiotics and designing and making new methyltransferase inhibitors.
August 10, 2022: Congrats to Charlotte for having her review on outer membrane perturbing antibiotic synergists published in ACS Infectious Diseases.
July 27, 2022: Congrats to Emma for having her review on semisynthetic glycopeptide antibiotics published in ACS Infectious Diseases.
July 5, 2022: Congratulations to Charlotte for successfully defending her PhD thesis – welcome to the club dr. Wesseling!
June 2, 2022: Congratulations to Ray for successfully defending his PhD thesis – welcome to the club dr. Zhang!
May 17, 2022: Congrats to Ray and Matthijs for having their work describing a new LC/MS-based assay for measuring CARM1 activity published in Biochemistry.
April 4, 2022: Very proud of group alum dr. Tom Wood on being awarded the prestigious Rubicon postdoctoral fellowship from NWO.
February 9, 2022: Congrats to Karol for having his work on the brevicidine/laterocidine lipopeptide antibiotics published in Chemical Science. Karol’s first, first-author paper and an excellent collaboration with the Cochrane group (Queen’s University Belfast)!
January 18, 2022: Congrats to Tom for having his work reporting new mechanistic insights into the C55-P targeting lipopeptide antibiotics published in Chemical Science. A truly mammoth effort and another highly successful collaboration with the Janssen group (Utrecht University).
December 22, 2021: Congratulations to Tom for successfully defending his PhD thesis – welcome to the club dr. Wood!
November 12, 2021: Congrats to Charlotte and participating members of the group for publication of our latest work on antibiotic synergists in ACS Infectious Diseases.
October 14, 2021: Welcome to new group member and PhD candidate Meiling Gao. Meiling will work on developing new antibiotics to target Gram-negative bacteria.
September 29, 2021: Congratulations to Yongzhi for successfully defending his PhD thesis – welcome to the club dr. Gao!
September 27, 2021: Congrats to Ray and Matthijs on the publication of their work describing peptide based inhibitors and structural probes for CARM1 in ChemBioChem.
August 23, 2021: Congrats to Yongzhi and participating members of the group for publication of our latest work on NNMT inhibitor development in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
August 23, 2021: Congrats to Matthijs and Ray on having their work describing the development of macrocyclic peptide inhibitors of NNMT published in RSC Chemical Biology. A great collaboration with the Jongkees group (VU Amsterdam)!
August 18, 2021: Congrats to Ioli on the publication of her study revealing phospholipid specificity in the calcium-dependent mechanism of action of daptomycin – now out in ACS Infectious Diseases – Ioli’s first, first-author paper!
August 13, 2021: Congrats to Emma and Jaco on the publication of their work describing development of the “Vancomyxins” now out in ACS Infectious Diseases – Emma’s first, first-author paper!
July 20, 2021: Congrats to Tom and Jaco for publication of their work describing the chemoenzymatic preparation of chimeric macrocyclic peptide antibiotics in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
June 28, 2021: Congrats to Kamal and participating members of the group for publication of our latest work on MBL inhibitor development in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
June 17, 2021: The Martin group has been awarded a lead development voucher (€50k) from the Netherlands Antibiotic Development program (NADP) for the further preclinical development of lipopeptide antibiotics with activity against Gram-negative pathogens.
June 16, 2021: Very proud of group alum dr. Kamal Tehrani on being awarded the prestigious Rubicon postdoctoral fellowship from NWO. Kamal will conduct his Rubicon-supported research in the group of Rolf Müller at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research.
May 28, 2021: Our joint review article with the Luirink group (VU Amsterdam) on inhibitors of the Bam complex is accepted for publication in FEMS Microbiology Letters.
May 21, 2021: Congrats to Yongzhi and Matthijs for having their review article on NNMT inhibitors published in Drug Discovery Today.
March 30, 2021: Congratulations to Charlotte for having her first, first-author paper accepted for publication in Molecules!
February 3, 2021: Congratulations to Nicola for having her first, first-author paper accepted for publication in ChemMedChem!
December 16, 2020: Congratulations to Kamal for successfully defending his PhD thesis – welcome to the club dr. Tehrani!
December 4, 2020: Our joint manuscript with the Walvoort group (University of Groningen) investigating the structural requirements for protein arginine rhamnosylation is accepted for publication in Chemical Science. Congrats to co-first authors Liubov and Tom!
November 25, 2020: Congrats to Matthijs and all other co-authors on the acceptance of our manuscript describing cephalosporin prodrug inhibitors of MBLs in Chemistry a European Journal.
October 19, 2020: Our grant proposal has been awarded under the NWO-NACTAR program. This funding will support preclinical studies with an exciting new class of anti-MRSA antibiotics. Grant made possible based on excellent preliminary data generated by group members Emma van Groesen, Nicola Wade, and Kamal Tehrani.
October 16, 2020: Our joint manuscript with the Fritz group (University of Western Australia) investigating the cell envelope stress response of Bacillus subtilis towards Laspartomycin C is accepted for publication in Antibiotics. Congrats to all involved!
May 1, 2020: Welcome to Nora Brüchle who has joined the Martin group as a PhD researcher. Nora will work on developing novel antibiotics targeting Gram-negative OM protein biogenesis.
March 31, 2020: Kamal’s latest manuscript describing small molecule carboxylates as potent MBL inhibitors is accepted for publication in ACS Infectious Diseases. Great work and congrats to all involved!
February 5, 2020: Our joint manuscript with the Poelharends group describing novel NDM-1 inhibitors is accepted for publication in Chemical Communications. Looking forward to many more collaborations with our colleagues up in Groningen!
December 11, 2019: Tom and Kristine’s manuscript elucidating the role of achiral amino acids in the laspartomycin class of lipopeptide antibiotics is officially accepted for publication in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry!
September 24, 2019: Ioli’s work describing the binding interactions of teixobactin with the bacterial cell wall precursor lipid II has now been officially published in ChemBioChem. A great collaborative effort involving the Payne, Cochrane, and Vederas groups!
September 13, 2019: A big celebration as Nathaniel was officially installed as Full Professor of Biological Chemistry. To honour the occasion the group prepared this brilliant video clip depicting a typical day in the Martin lab.
August 6, 2019: Congratulations to Ray for having his first, first-author paper accepted for publication in Methods!
July 2, 2019: Congratulations to Yongzhi for having his first, first-author paper accepted for publication in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry!
April 5, 2019: Our book chapter for Springer’s “Topics in Medicinal Chemistry” special edition on “Chemical Epigenetics” is off to the presses – well done Matthijs!
April 1, 2019: Welcome to Ned Buijs who has joined the Martin group as a PhD researcher. Ned will join the methyltransferase team.
March 25, 2019: Our manuscript with Mike Brouwer and colleagues on the identification of a new beta-lactamase enzyme is accepted for publication in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
March 20, 2019: Congratulations to Tom on having his review article on the calcium-dependent lipopeptide antibiotics accepted for publication in MedChemComm!
February 15, 2019: Working in collaboration with the Kuipers group (Groningen) we have received a grant of >€600k from TTW (The Applied and Engineering Sciences domain of the Dutch Science Foundation). The grant will fund two PhD/postdoc positions, one in each our labs to develop new peptide based antibiotics.
February 1, 2019: Welcome to Nora Bruchle who has joined the Martin group as a masters student research intern. Nora will work on the metallo-beta-lactamase inhibitor project.
December 17, 2016: Nathaniel has been awarded a 2018 ERC Proof of Concept grant. With this grant we will explore the commercial potential of some of the findings stemming from the ongoing ERC Consolidator Grant project.
December 1, 2018: Welcome to Kristine Bertheussen who has joined the Martin group as a masters student research intern. Kristine will work on the calcium-dependent lipopeptide antibiotics project.
September 19, 2018: Our manuscript with the Lemeer group is accepted for publication in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.
August 16, 2018: Congratulations to Kamal on having his review article on β-lactamase inhibitors accepted for publication in MedChemComm!
July 1, 2018: The Martin group has officially moved to Leiden University where Nathaniel is now Professor of Biological Chemistry at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL).
June 29, 2018: For the 4th straight year the Molecular Life Science students have voted Nathaniel “Lecturer of the Year”!
June 21, 2018: Our manuscript with the Cobb group on nisin-peptoid hybrids has been accepted for publication in Molecules – a fantastic collaboration!
June 1, 2018: Welcome to Nicola Wade who has joined the Martin group as a PhD researcher. Nicola will work on a collaborative project also involving the Jongkees lab (Utrecht).
March 1, 2018: A big welcome to Ioli Kotsogianni and Karol Al Ayed as new PhD researchers in the group. Both Ioli and Karol will join “team antibiotics”.
February 1, 2018: We’re happy to welcome Dr. Paolo Innocenti who joins the Martin group in the newly created position of lab manager and senior staff scientist.
January 9, 2018: Congratulations to Laurens who successfully defenced his PhD thesis – Hartelijk gefeliciteerd Dr. Kleijn!
December 12, 2017: Working in collaboration with the Medema group (Wageningen) and the van Wezel group (Leiden), we have received a grant of >€750k from TTW (The Applied and Engineering Sciences domain of the Dutch Science Foundation). The grant will fund three PhD positions, one in each our groups to identify and develop next generation lipopeptide antibiotics You can read more about the project here.
November 3, 2017: Our manuscript with the Janssen group is accepted for publication in Angewandte Chemie! Great work by Laurens and Hedwich – a fantastic collaboration!
November 2, 2017: Our manuscript with the Frankel group is accepted for publication in ChemBioChem – one last gem from Timo’s PhD work!
November 1, 2017: Our manuscript with the Crowder and Wright groups is accepted for publication in ACS Infectious Disease – nice work by Kamal, his third paper this year!
October 30, 2017: The second Martin group PhD degree awarded in the same week! Congratulations to Alen who successfully defenced his PhD thesis – Čestitke Dr. Sevšek!
October 23, 2017: Congratulations to Matthijs who successfully defenced his PhD thesis – nicely done Dr. van Haren!
October 9, 2017: Congratulations to Alen on having his paper accepted for publication in MedchemComm – nicely in time for his PhD thesis defense!
September 29, 2017: Congratulations to Peter, Tom, and Kamal on having their paper accepted for publication in Chemical Science!
August 18, 2017: Congratulations to Kamal on having his first PhD paper accepted for publication in ACS Infectious Diseases!
July 15, 2017: Matthijs van Haren has officially started as a postdoc in the group – a well deserved promotion!
July 4, 2017: Hanieh Abedian (a CPS bachelor student working with Tom Wood) was selected for “best research talk” at the annual CPS student symposium – congrats!
June 30, 2017: For the 3rd straight year the Molecular Life Science students have voted Nathaniel “Lecturer of the Year”!
June 23, 2017: Congrats to Matthijs for winning the €500 prize for best research talk by a PhD student at this year’s UIPS department day – well done!
March 28, 2017: Nathaniel was voted has having delivered the most inspiring talk at this year’s UU symposium for ERC laureates. You can watch the lecture here.
March 15, 2017: We’re happy to welcome Charlotte Wesseling who has officially joined the group us as a PhD researcher (joint with the Rooijakkers lab at the UMCU). Charlotte will work on our recently granted ZonMw antibiotics project.
March 2, 2017: We’re pleased to announce that our paper with the Cavarelli group has officially been accepted for publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Great effort by Matthijs and everyone else involved!
February 24, 2017: Alen’s manuscript has been accepted for publication in ChemMedChem. Nice work by the Slovenian faction of the lab!
February 2, 2017: Our book chapter for Springer’s “Topics in Medicinal Chemistry” special edition on “The Future of Antibiotics” is off to the presses – well done Laurens!
January 17, 2017: Our review article written with the Medical Microbiology group from the UMCU has officially been accepted for publication in Trends in Microbiology.
December 1, 2016: The Martin group, in collaboration with the Rooijakkers group (UMCU) and the Kuipers group (RUG), have received a €500k grant from ZonMw (The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development). The grant will be used to identify and develop new strategies for combatting drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens. You can read more about the project here.
November 17, 2016: Nathaniel is a recipient of a 2016 ERC Consolidator grant worth €2M. At this link you can read a press release about the grant and the research it will fund.
October 27, 2016: Our manuscript with the Cavarelli group describing the crystal structure of PRMT2 bound to the inhibitors synthesized by Matthijs has officially been accepted at The FEBS Journal.
September 15, 2016: We’re happy to welcome back Tom Wood who has officially joined us as a PhD researcher and will work as part of the antibiotics team.
August 30, 2016: Congratulations to Alen on having his manuscript accepted for publication in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry.
August 29, 2016: Congratulations to Matthijs on having his manuscript accepted for publication in Biochemistry.
June 24, 2016: Congrats to Timo for winning the prize (a new iPad!) for best original research paper at this year’s UIPS department day!
May 1, 2016: Congratulations to Tom Wood on being awarded a PhD study grant from the UIPS-NWO Graduate Programme. With this grant Tom will begin his PhD in our group this Fall.
April 18, 2016: Check out a video profiling the Martin group’s research as part of the recently formed “Science for Life” initiative at Utrecht University.
April 4, 2016: Today Peter successfully defenced his PhD thesis – congratulations Dr. ‘t Hart!
April 1, 2016: We’re happy to welcome Yongzhi Gao who has joined us as a PhD researcher working on the methyltransferase project.
March 11, 2016: Congratulations to Laurens on having his manuscript accepted for publication in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
January 7, 2016: Today Timo successfully defenced his PhD thesis – congratulations Dr. Koopmans!
January 15, 2016: We’re happy to welcome Koen Voskuil and Erik Hebels who have joined us for their Bachelors degree major research projects.
December 11, 2015: Congratulations to Peter on having his manuscript accepted for publication in Biochemistry.
November 9, 2015: Congratulations to Alen Sevšek for winning the PhD presentation prize at the 1st Utrecht Science for Life symposium.
September 15, 2015: We’re happy to welcome Rebecca Taig who joins us from the University of Glasgow for her Masters degree 9-month research internship.
August 6, 2015: Congratulations to Alen Sevšek for having his poster awarded 1st prize at the EuroCarb meeting in Moscow (August 2-6).
July 16, 2015: Our manuscript with Arjen Scholten and Albert Heck is accepted for publication in the Molecular Biosystems.
June 30, 2015: Congratulations to Timo, Tom, Peter, and Laurens on having their manuscript accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
April 28, 2015: Welcome to Agostino Cianciulli who has joined us for a 6-month visit to work on the PRMT project. Agostino is PhD student from the Sbardella group (Salerno).
April 14, 2015: Together with Enrico Mastrobatista the Martin group was awarded a €100k seed grant from the Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences.
March 1, 2015: We’re happy to welcome Maša Čelan who has joined us for her Masters degree major research internship working with Alen on the iminosugars project.
January 23, 2015: Congratulations to Erik and Gruson on having their manuscript accepted for publication in the Journal of Controlled Release.
October 23, 2014: Congratulations to Matthijs on having his manuscript accepted for publication in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry.
October 20, 2014: We’re happy to welcome Tom Wood who has joined us for his Masters degree major research project.
October 1, 2014: We’re happy to welcome Kamal Tehrani who has joined us as a PhD researcher working on a variety of projects involving novel antimicrobial agents.
April 24, 2014: Congratulations to Timo on having his manuscript with the Frankel group accepted for publication in ChemBioChem.
March 20, 2014: Congratulations to Caitlin, Stuart and Peter on having their manuscript accepted for publication in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
February 1, 2014: We’re happy to welcome Bibi Erjavec who has joined us for her Bachelors degree major research internship working with Alen on the iminosugars project.
January 13, 2014: Our recently accepted Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry manuscript has been selected as an “OBC Hot Article” for the month of January 2014 and will be free to access for the next four weeks!
December 10, 2013: Congratulations to Peter, Laurens, Gerjan, and Sabine on having their manuscript accepted for publication in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry.
December 3, 2013: The Drug Discovery Today review we co-authored with the Dekker group is now online.
November 25, 2013: We’re happy to welcome Rens Bakker who has joined us for his Masters degree major research project.
November 11, 2013: We’re happy to welcome Kelvin (Sing) Lau who is visiting us from Glasgow for a nine-month Erasmus research internship.
November 6, 2013: We’re happy to welcome Jolinde Soesbergen who has joined us for her Masters degree major research project.
November 1, 2013: We’re happy to welcome Laurens Kleijn who has joined us as a PhD researcher working on a variety of projects involving antimicrobial peptides.
October 10, 2013: We’re happy to welcome Coen de Oude who has joined us for his Masters degree minor research project.
October 1, 2013: We’re happy to welcome Gosia Sleszynska who has joined us as a postdoctoral fellow and will work on the lipid II-binding peptides VIDI project.
August 15, 2013: We’re happy to welcome Tom Wood who has joined us for his Bachelors degree major research project.
May 6, 2013: Congratulations to Laurens Kleijn on being awarded a PhD study grant from the Bijvoet-NWO Graduate Programme. With this grant Laurens will begin his PhD in our group this Fall.
February 25, 2013: We’re happy to welcome Gruson Klaasse who has joined us for his Masters degree major research project.
February 1, 2013: We’re happy to welcome Alen Sevšek who has joined us as a PhD researcher working on the glycosidase inhibitor project.
January 15 , 2013: We’re happy to welcome Matthijs van Haren who has joined us as a PhD researcher working on the PRMT project.
November 29, 2012: Congratulations to Raymond, Hilbert, Simon, and Sara on having their manuscript accepted for publication in MedChemComm.
November 26 , 2012: We’re happy to welcome Frederike Müskens who has joined us for her Masters degree major research project.
October 25 , 2012: Congratulations to Timo and Matthijs on having their manuscript accepted for publication in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry.
October 1 , 2012: We’re happy to welcome Caitlin Mooney and Stuart Johnson who are visiting us from the University of Glasgow for their 9-month Erasmus exchange program research projects.
September 13, 2012: Congratulations to Laurens, Frederike, Sabine, and Gerjan on having their manuscript accepted for publication in Tetrahedron Letters.
September 11, 2012: Nathaniel has been awarded a “Young Investigators Incentive Award” by the Utrecht University Board of Governors (award value 250 k€).
July 20, 2012: Congratulations to Peter and Randy on having their manuscript accepted for publication in MedChemComm.
February 13, 2012: We’re happy to welcome Frederike Müskens who has joined us for her senior Bachelors degree research project.
January 17, 2012: Congratulations to Timo on having his first manuscript accepted for publication in the new RSC journal RSC Advances.
November 21, 2011: We’re happy to welcome Laurens Kleijn who has joined us for his Masters degree major research project.
Nathaniel Martin