Javier Martínez-Picado

Institut de Recerca de la Sida - IrsiCaixa (IrsiCaixa)

Life & Medical Sciences

Javier Martínez-Picado is ICREA Research Professor at the AIDS Research Institute irsiCaixa in Barcelona, an institution that works to advance clinical research and translate results into patients care. He is also associate professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Vic. He received his PhD from the University of Barcelona where he subsequently became associate professor lecturing on different microbiology-related subjects.

In 1996, he joined the Massachusetts General Hospital as postdoctoral fellow of the Harvard Medical School, where he engaged in AIDS research. In 2000, he obtained a position as biomedical researcher of the Spanish Health Department appointed to the Hospital "Germans Trias i Pujol" in Badalona (Barcelona).

Dr. Martínez-Picado serves on different government, academic and industry advisory boards and has published extensively on HIV treatment strategies and HIV pathogenesis in international journals.


Research interests

The main subject of our biomedical research is the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), a retrovirus that can lead to Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. In 2015, 1.1 million people died from AIDS-related causes and 2.1 million became newly infected worldwide. Our research programmes are focused on understanding how HIV causes disease in recently infected people, exploring the best antiretroviral therapies, fighting drug resistance, exploring potential virus eradication strategies and collaborating on global HIV/AIDS vaccine development projects.

Selected publications

– Martinez-Picado J, et al 2016. ‘Identification of Siglec-1 null individuals infected with HIV-1’, Nature Communications, 7:12412.

– Martinez-Picado J, Deeks SG 2016. ‘Persistent HIV-1 replication during antiretroviral therapy’. Current Opinion on HIV/AIDS, 11(4):417–23.

– Morón-López S, … Martinez-Picado J 2016. ‘Short-term treatment with IFNα diminishes expression of HIV-1 and reduces CD4+ T-cell activation in HIV/HCV–coinfected patients on antiretroviral therapy’, Journal of Infectious Diseases, 213(6):1008-12.

– Minuesa G, … Martinez-Picado J 2016. ‘P-glycoprotein (ABCB1) activity decreases raltegravir disposition in primary CD4+ P-gphigh cells and correlates with HIV-1 viral load’, Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 71(10):2782-92.

– Puertas MC, … Martinez-Picado J 2016. ‘Lack of concordance between residual viremia and viral variants driving de novo infection of CD4+ T cells on ART’, Retrovirology, 13(1):51.

– Arkaitz I, Martinez-Picado J, et al 2016. ‘HIV-1-RNA decay and dolutegravir concentrations in semen of patients initiating a first antiretroviral regimen’, Journal of Infectious Diseases, 214(10):1512-9.

– Arimany-Nardi C, … Martinez-Picado J, Pastor-Anglada M 2016. ‘Role of human Organic Cation Transporter 1 (hOCT1) polymorphisms in lamivudine (3TC) uptake and drug-drug interactions’, Frontiers in Pharmacology, 7:175.

– Noel N, … Martinez-Picado J, et al 2016. ‘Long-term spontaneous control of HIV-1 relates to low frequency of infected cells and inefficient viral reactivation’, Journal of Virology, 90(13):6148-58.

– Various authors 2016. The HIV & Hepatitis Drug Resistance and PK Guide (15th edition). Fundació de Lluita contra la SIDA. Barcelona. ISBN: 978-84-608-8503-0.