Francisco Martin
Goycoolea Valencia

BSc Chemistry/Pharmacy/Biology at Universidad La Salle/UNAM Mexico, 1988; MSc in Food Science in Reading University, UK, 1990; PhD in Food Polysaccharides at Cranfield University, UK, 1994. Research Scientist and Group Leader at CIAD, Mexico (1995 to 2010); Visiting Scholar at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (2001-2002); Visiting Scientist at Universidad de Santiago de Compostela collaborated at EU project NanoBioSaccharides (2006-2007) and International Marie Curie fellow (2008-2010); Professor at University of Münster, Germany (2010-2016), PI of the international graduate school MCGS, also PI of the project FENAMI-Denmark (aiming to formulate novel nano- and microparticles for buccal drug delivery) and workpackage leader EU Project Nano3Bio (aiming at biotechnological ways to produce chitosan polymers with defined properties and functionalities). As of November 2016, was appointed Full Professor (Chair in Biopolymers) at School of Food Science and Nutrition of University of Leeds, U.K. PI hosting Marie Curie Fellowship “Biopolymer Assisted Remediation of Microplastics” (MINUSMICRO, EU Horizon2020); PI of project “Optimization and Demonstration of a Sustainable Bioprocess for Extraction of Value-Added Food Supplements and Ingredients from Crustacean Waste Resource” UKRI UK-Canada; PI hosting fellowship “Enhancing the bacterial anti-quorum effect by using chitosan based nanoencapsulation” (Academy of Medical Sciences, U.K.). Ongoing participation in two Innovate UK projects “AdvanceYeast Pro-Advanced and sustainable yeast-based novel food, grown in vegetable derived scaffolds for a high-structured and protein rich product” and “Sustainable Nutrition for Animal Protein Productivity”. Author of more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Have collaborated actively with universities, research centres and companies in different countries. Elected founder President of Iberoamerican Chitin Society (2002-2006). Member of the Board of European Chitin Society (2011 to date). Trustee of the Food Hydrocolloids Trust (U.K.) since 2018. Member of the editorial board of Scientific Reports and Food and Function, and Associate Editor of Food Hydrocolloids. Fields of scientific expertise are Biopolymer Science, Nanobiotechnology and Food Structure with more than twenty years of experience researching on biomass-sourced polymers as building blocks of novel bioinspired materials such as soft hydrogels and nanoparticles for biomedical and biotechnological applications. Areas of research interests include: • Structure-function relationships that determine the biophysical and biological properties of biopolymer-based soft material and their interactions in vitro with biological barriers and biological networks (namely, mucosa, epithelia, bacterial biofilms). • Biopolymer-based materials as vehicles of phytochemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients intending to modify their biological and sensory profile and enhance their oral bioavailability and thus their health/therapeutic benefits. • Microfluidics phenotyping that enable novel ways of investigating the interactions between biopolymer-based nanomaterials and mammalian cells and bacteria in 3D single-cell culture that recreate their natural microenvironment. • Development of antibiotic-free therapies against bacterial pathogen relevant to food, aquaculture and health. • In silico simulations of nanomaterial behaviour and other critical phenomena in living systems.