Joel F. Martin

PhD Physical Chemistry, '83

Joel F. Martin is a retired biotechnology entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Most recently, he served as managing director of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, where he oversaw operations and supported strategic development and board activities.

Martin has led multiple clinical-stage biotechnology companies as CEO, including Dauntless Pharmaceuticals, Cebix Incorporated — where he directed a large international Phase 2b trial in type 1 diabetes — and Altair Therapeutics, where he advanced an inhaled antisense oligonucleotide program targeting IL-4 receptor alpha for eosinophilic asthma.

A serial entrepreneur, he co-founded Quantum Dot Corporation (acquired by Life Technologies) to commercialize applications of quantum-confined nanocrystal technology originally developed in academic work by Moungi Bawendi and colleagues. He also co-founded Argonaut Technologies (acquired by Biotage AB) and contributed to the founding of Idun Pharmaceuticals with Nobel laureate Robert Horvitz.

Martin has extensive venture capital experience, including as a partner at Forward Ventures, where he led investments in neuroscience and oncology companies.

He began his career as an assistant professor of radiology at UC San Diego, where he developed early digital image-processing techniques and invented the first device for MRI imaging of the prostate. He later joined Ionis Pharmaceuticals as one of its earliest scientists, working on RNA structural determination and introducing molecular modeling and large-molecule mass spectrometry to the company.

Martin holds a PhD in physical chemistry from UC San Diego, an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and a BS in chemistry with honors from the University of Michigan. He completed postdoctoral research at IBM combining MRI and NMR spectroscopy. He currently serves on advisory and nonprofit boards and has served on the boards of multiple biotechnology companies.