Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Overview
Dr Veronica is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the ARC Training Centre for Biopharmaceutical Innovation (CBI), under the supervision of Professor Steve Mahler. She received her Biotechnology Engineering degree at the University of Chile in 2007, and completed her PhD in Systems Biology at The University of Queensland in 2014. After completing her PhD she performed 2 years of postdoctoral training at The University of Queensland, as part of a collaboration project with Universidad de Chile. Both Ph.D. studies and postdoctoral training were financially supported by the Chilean Government, under a competitive scholarship and fellowship, respectively.
She has some teaching expereince. She had performed tutorial teaching in several courses at Universidad de Chile and University of Queensland. In 2016 she was in charge of the Beer and Biofuels practical, part of the subject: Biomolecular Engineering (CHEE4020) of the chemical engineering department at The University of Queensland.
Her research focuses on the study of mammalian cell metabolism. She is specifically interested in (1) the development of computational tools for metabolic systems biology, and (2) the improvement of biopharmaceutical production processes. On the tools side, she has worked on the integration of thermodynamic principles and omics datasets into genome scale models to estimate metabolic flux distributions; and developed a method for estimation of dynamic metabolic fluxes. She has used these tools to describe experimental mammalian cells data and to guide the improvement of biopharmaceutical production processes. She has also been involved in the development of the latest human and CHO genome scale models. On the process side, she is currently working on the improvement of a high cell density culture, using systems biology tools to develop a cell line adapted to high cell density and to develop an improved upstream bioprocess.
Research Interests
- Computacional System Biology
- Cell culture upstream bioprocess optimization
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Publications
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Journal Article: Engineering CHO cells galactose metabolism to reduce lactate synthesis
Jiménez, N., Martínez, V. S. and Gerdtzen, Z. P. (2019) Engineering CHO cells galactose metabolism to reduce lactate synthesis. Biotechnology Letters, . doi:10.1007/s10529-019-02680-8
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Averesch, Nils J. H., Martínez, Verónica S., Nielsen, Lars K. and Krömer, Jens O. (2017) Toward Synthetic Biology Strategies for Adipic Acid Production: An in Silico Tool for Combined Thermodynamics and Stoichiometric Analysis of Metabolic Networks. ACS Synthetic Biology, 7 2: 490-509. doi:10.1021/acssynbio.7b00304
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Journal Article: Quantification of microbial phenotypes
Martinez, Verónica S. and Kromer, Jens O. (2016) Quantification of microbial phenotypes. Metabolites, 6 4: 45. doi:10.3390/metabo6040045
Supervision
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Examining metabolic demand in high density CHO cell cultures.
Doctor Philosophy
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Understanding metabolic demands of continuous bioprocesses using an integrated systems biology approach
Doctor Philosophy
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Cell line development for high cell density culture
Doctor Philosophy
Publications
Book Chapter
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NExT: integration of thermodynamic constraints and metabolomics data into a metabolic network
Martínez, Veronica Sofía and Nielsen, LK (2014). NExT: integration of thermodynamic constraints and metabolomics data into a metabolic network. In Jens O. Kromer, Lars K. Nielsen and Lars M. Blank (Ed.), Metabolic Flux Analysis: Methods and Protocols (pp. 65-78) New York, NY United States: Humana Press. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-1170-7_4
Journal Article
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Engineering CHO cells galactose metabolism to reduce lactate synthesis
Jiménez, N., Martínez, V. S. and Gerdtzen, Z. P. (2019) Engineering CHO cells galactose metabolism to reduce lactate synthesis. Biotechnology Letters, . doi:10.1007/s10529-019-02680-8
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Averesch, Nils J. H., Martínez, Verónica S., Nielsen, Lars K. and Krömer, Jens O. (2017) Toward Synthetic Biology Strategies for Adipic Acid Production: An in Silico Tool for Combined Thermodynamics and Stoichiometric Analysis of Metabolic Networks. ACS Synthetic Biology, 7 2: 490-509. doi:10.1021/acssynbio.7b00304
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Quantification of microbial phenotypes
Martinez, Verónica S. and Kromer, Jens O. (2016) Quantification of microbial phenotypes. Metabolites, 6 4: 45. doi:10.3390/metabo6040045
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A consensus genome-scale reconstruction of Chinese hamster ovary cell metabolism
Hefzi, Hooman, Ang, Kok Siong, Hanscho, Michael, Bordbar, Aarash, Ruckerbauer, David, Lakshmanan, Meiyappan, Orellana, Camila A., Baycin-Hizal, Deniz, Huang, Yingxiang, Ley, Daniel, Martinez, Veronica S., Kyriakopoulos, Sarantos, Jimenez, Natalia E., Zielinski, Daniel C., Quek, Lake-Ee, Wulff, Tune, Arnsdorf, Johnny, Li, Shangzhong, Lee, Jae Seong, Paglia, Giuseppe, Loira, Nicolas, Spahn, Philipp N., Pedersen, Lasse E., Gutierrez, Jahir M., King, Zachary A., Lund, Anne Mathilde, Nagarajan, Harish, Thomas, Alex, Abdel-Haleem, Alyaa M., Zanghellini, Juergen, Kildegaard, Helene F., Voldborg, Bjorn G., Gerdtzen, Ziomara P., Betenbaugh, Michael J., Palsson, Bernhard O., Andersen, Mikael R., Nielsen, Lars K., Borth, Nicole, Lee, Dong-Yup and Lewis, Nathan E. (2016) A consensus genome-scale reconstruction of Chinese hamster ovary cell metabolism. Cell Systems, 3 5: 434-443.e8. doi:10.1016/j.cels.2016.10.020
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Recon 2.2: from reconstruction to model of human metabolism
Swainston, Neil, Smallbone, Kieran, Hefzi, Hooman, Dobson, Paul D., Brewer, Judy, Hanscho, Michael, Zielinski, Daniel C., Ang, Kok Siong, Gardiner, Natalie J., Gutierrez, Jahir M., Kyriakopoulos, Sarantos, Lakshmanan, Meiyappan, Li, Shangzhong, Liu, Joanne K., Martinez, Veronica S., Orellana, Camila A., Quek, Lake-Ee, Thomas, Alex, Zanghellini, Juergen, Borth, Nicole, Lee, Dong-Yup, Nielsen, Lars K., Kell, Douglas B., Lewis, Nathan E. and Mendes, Pedro (2016) Recon 2.2: from reconstruction to model of human metabolism. Metabolomics, 12 7: 109. doi:10.1007/s11306-016-1051-4
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Martinez, Verónica S., Buchsteiner, Maria, Gray, Peter, Nielsen, Lars K. and Quek, Lake-Ee (2015) Dynamic metabolic flux analysis using B-splines to study the effects of temperature shift on CHO cell metabolism. Metabolic Engineering Communications, 2 46-57. doi:10.1016/j.meteno.2015.06.001
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Reducing Recon 2 for steady-state flux analysis of HEK cell culture
Quek, Lake-Ee, Dietmair, Stefanie, Hanscho, Michael, Martinez, Veronica S., Borth, Nicole and Nielsen, Lars K. (2014) Reducing Recon 2 for steady-state flux analysis of HEK cell culture. Journal of Biotechnology, 184 172-178. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2014.05.021
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Network thermodynamic curation of human and yeast genome-scale metabolic models
Martinez, Veronica S., Quek, Lake-Ee and Nielsen, Lars K. (2014) Network thermodynamic curation of human and yeast genome-scale metabolic models. Biophysical Journal, 107 2: 493-503. doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2014.05.029
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Martínez, Verónica S., Dietmair, Stefanie, Quek, Lake-Ee, Hodson, Mark P., Gray, Peter and Nielsen, Lars K. (2013) Flux balance analysis of CHO cells before and after a metabolic switch from lactate production to consumption. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 110 2: 660-666. doi:10.1002/bit.24728
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Martinez, V., Gerdtzen, Z. P., Andrews, B. A. and Asenjo, J. A. (2010) Viral vectors for the treatment of alcoholism: Use of metabolic flux analysis for cell cultivation and vector production. Metabolic Engineering, 12 2: 129-137. doi:10.1016/j.ymben.2009.09.003
Conference Publication
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Andrews, Barbara A., Martinez, Veronica, Asenjo, Juan A. and Gerdtzen, Ziomara P. (2008). A comparative study of cell growth and adenovirus production using suspension and stationary cell culture. In: 13th International Biotechnology Symposium and Exhibition, Dalian, China, (S134-S135). 12-17 October 2008 . doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2008.07.285
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Media optimization and metabolic flux analysis of HEK293 cells for adenovirus production
Martinez, Veronica, Gerdtzen, Ziomara P., Asenjo, Juan A. and Andrews, Barbara A. (2007). Media optimization and metabolic flux analysis of HEK293 cells for adenovirus production. In: 13th European Congress on Biotechnology (ECB 13), Barcelona, Spain, (S201-S202). 16-19 September 2007. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2007.07.360
Other Outputs
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Using network thermodynamics and metabolomics for the study of dynamic mammalian cell metabolism
Martinez Salazar, Veronica (2013). Using network thermodynamics and metabolomics for the study of dynamic mammalian cell metabolism PhD Thesis, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland.
PhD and MPhil Supervision
Current Supervision
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Examining metabolic demand in high density CHO cell cultures.
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
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Understanding metabolic demands of continuous bioprocesses using an integrated systems biology approach
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
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Cell line development for high cell density culture
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
