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Hire Francisco M.

United States

USD 60 /hr

Expert in Medicinal Chemistry | Scientific Writer & Editor

Profile Summary

I am a Ph.D. scientist with 15+ years of international experience in medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, and translational drug discovery. I have co-authored 14 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Nature, Science, JACS, and Nature Communications, and have collaborated with some of the most prominent scientists in the world, including Prof. Peter Schultz (President of Scripps), Prof. Phil Baran (Nobel Laureate Signature Award), Prof. Benjamin Cravatt (Wolf Prize), and Prof. Jin‑Quan Yu (MacArthur Fellow). My expertise includes scientific writing and editing (grants, manuscripts, patents), chemistry consulting (SAR, compound design, HTS), and bilingual (English–Spanish) academic editing. I’ve received competitive awards from the Copley Foundation and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine for my work in neuroscience and regenerative medicine. I am committed to enhancing the clarity, accuracy, and impact of scientific communication. Whether you're preparing a manuscript, developing a therapeutic pipeline, or refining a grant proposal, I bring scientific rigor, editorial precision, and collaborative insight to every project.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ☆ Inorganic Chemistry
• ☆ Biotechnology & Bioengineering
• ☆ Applied Chemistry
• ☆ Chemical Biology
• ☆ Pharmacy
• ☆ Drug Discovery
• ☆ Medicinal Chemistry
• ☆ Drug Development
• ☆ Immunotherapy

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Consulting

Writing Creative Writing, General Proofreading & Editing, Translation

Research Scientific and Technical Research

Consulting Scientific and Technical Consulting

Work Experience

Staff Scientist in Medicinal Chemistry

Scripps Research Institute

October 2023 - Present

Postdoctoral Associate in Medicinal Chemistry

Scripps Research Institute

September 2018 - September 2023

PhD Student

Fundación IMDEA Nanociencia

2014 - 2018

Research Assistant

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

2012 - 2014

Master Student

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas

2011 - 2012

Education

PhD in Applied Chemistry (Chemistry)

Universidad Autonoma de Madrid Facultad de Ciencias

2014 - 2018

Master Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacy)

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

2011 - 2012

Graduate in Chemistry (Organic Chemistry)

Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha

2005 - 2011

Certifications

• Certification details not provided.

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Mildred Kissai, Emily N. Chin, Francisco Martínez-Peña, Ariana Sulpizio, E. Paige Stout, Ippei Usui, Farhana Barmare, Brittany Sanchez, Eduardo Esquenazi, Robyn L. Stanfield, et al. (2025). Cladophorol-A is an inhibitor of cyclic GMP-AMP synthase . Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters.

Nick A. Kuburich, Petra den Hollander, Maria Castaneda, Mika Pietilä, Ximing Tang, Harsh Batra, Francisco Martínez-Peña, Tanvi H. Visal, Tieling Zhou, Breanna R. Demestichas, et al. (2023). Stabilizing vimentin phosphorylation inhibits stem-like cell properties and metastasis of hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal carcinomas . Cell Reports.

Nick A. Kuburich, Petra den Hollander, Maria Castaneda, Mika Pietilä, Ximing Tang, Harsh Batra, Francisco Martínez-Peña, Tanvi H. Visal, Tieling Zhou, Breanna R. Demestichas, et al. (2023). Stabilizing vimentin phosphorylation inhibits stem-like cell properties and metastasis of hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal carcinomas . Cell Reports.

Nick A. Kuburich, Petra den Hollander, Maria Castaneda, Mika Pietilä, Ximing Tang, Harsh Batra, Francisco Martínez-Peña, Tanvi H. Visal, Tieling Zhou, Breanna R. Demestichas, et al. (2023). Stabilizing vimentin phosphorylation inhibits stem-like cell properties and metastasis of hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal carcinomas . Cell Reports.

Paul Bertin, Jarrid Rector-Brooks, Deepak Sharma, Thomas Gaudelet, Andrew Anighoro, Torsten Gross, Francisco Martínez-Peña, Eileen L. Tang, M.S. Suraj, Cristian Regep, et al.(2023). RECOVER identifies synergistic drug combinations in vitro through sequential model optimization . Cell Reports Methods. 3. (10). p. 100599. Elsevier {BV}

Paul Bertin, Jarrid Rector-Brooks, Deepak Sharma, Thomas Gaudelet, Andrew Anighoro, Torsten Gross, Francisco Martínez-Peña, Eileen L. Tang, M.S. Suraj, Cristian Regep, et al. (2023). RECOVER identifies synergistic drug combinations in vitro through sequential model optimization . Cell Reports Methods.

Junchen Tang, Weichao Li, Tzu-Yuan Chiu, Francisco Martínez-Peña, Zengwei Luo, Christine T. Chong, Qijia Wei, Nathalia Gazaniga, Thomas J. West, Yi Yang See, et al.(2023). Synthesis of portimines reveals the basis of their anti-cancer activity . Nature. Springer Science and Business Media {LLC}

Stephan H. Spangenberg, Amelia Palermo, Nathalia R. Gazaniga, Francisco Martínez-Peña, Carlos Guijas, Emily N. Chin, Markus M. Rinschen, Philipp N. Sander, Bill Webb, Laura E. Pereira, et al.(2023). Hydroxyproline metabolism enhances IFN-γ-induced PD-L1 expression and inhibits autophagic flux . Cell Chemical Biology. Elsevier {BV}

Francisco Martínez-Peña, Sonia Infante-Tadeo, José Sánchez Costa, Ana M. Pizarro(2023). Reversible Chromism of Tethered Ruthenium(II) Complexes in the Solid State . Inorganic Chemistry. 62. (17). p. 6779--6785. American Chemical Society ({ACS})

Thomas J. West, Junfeng Bi, Francisco Martínez-Peña, Ellis J. Curtis, Nathalia R. Gazaniga, Paul S. Mischel, Luke L. Lairson(2023). A Cell Type Selective YM155 Prodrug Targets Receptor-Interacting Protein Kinase 2 to Induce Brain Cancer Cell Death . Journal of the American Chemical Society. American Chemical Society ({ACS})

Francisco Martínez-Peña, Aaron D. Pearson, Eileen L. Tang, Nick A. Kuburich, Sendurai A. Mani, Peter G. Schultz, Michael J. Bollong, Luke L. Lairson(2022). Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel FiVe1 derivatives as potent and selective agents for the treatment of mesenchymal cancers . European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 242. p. 114638. Elsevier {BV}

Reza Beheshti Zavareh, Stephan H. Spangenberg, Ashley Woods, Francisco Martínez-Peña, Luke L. Lairson(2021). HSP90 Inhibition Enhances Cancer Immunotherapy by Modulating the Surface Expression of Multiple Immune Checkpoint Proteins . Cell Chemical Biology. 28. (2). p. 158--168.e5. Elsevier {BV}

Emily N. Chin, Chenguang Yu, Vincent F. Vartabedian, Ying Jia, Manoj Kumar, Ana M. Gamo, William Vernier, Sabrina H. Ali, Mildred Kissai, Daniel C. Lazar, et al.(2020). Antitumor activity of a systemic STING-activating non-nucleotide cGAMP mimetic . Science. 369. (6506). p. 993--999. American Association for the Advancement of Science ({AAAS})

Martínez-Peña, Francisco and Infante-Tadeo, Sonia and Habtemariam, Abraha and Pizarro, Ana M.(2018). Reversible pH-Responsive Behavior of Ruthenium(II) Arene Complexes with Tethered Carboxylate . Inorganic Chemistry. 0. (0). p. null.

Control of Reversible Activation Dynamics of [Ruη6:κ1‐C6H5(C6H4)NH2(XY)]n+ and the Effect of Chelating‐Ligand Variation @article{doi:10.1002/chem.201701681, author= {Francisco Martínez‐Peña and Ana M. Pizarro}, title= {Control of Reversible Activation Dynamics of [Ru{η6:κ1‐C6H5(C6H4)NH2}(XY)]n+ and the Effect of Chelating‐Ligand Variation}, journal= {Chemistry – A European Journal}, volume= {23}, number= {64}, pages= {16231-16241}, keywords= {arene ligands, bioinorganic chemistry, chelates, ruthenium, tethered ligands}, doi= {10.1002/chem.201701681}, url= {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/chem.201701681}, eprint= {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/chem.201701681}, abstract= {Abstract The potential use of organoruthenium complexes as anticancer drugs is well known. Herein, a family of activatable tethered ruthenium(II) arene complexes of general formula [Ru{η6:κ1‐C6H5(C6H4)NH2}(XY)]n+ (closed tether ring) bearing different chelating XY ligands (XY=aliphatic diamine, phenylenediamine, oxalato, bis(phosphino)ethane) is reported. The activation of these complexes (closed‐ to open‐tether conversion) occurs in methanol and DMSO at different rates and to different reaction extents at equilibrium. Most importantly, RuII‐complex activation (cleavage of the Ru−Ntether bond) occurs in aqueous solution at high proton concentration (upon Ntether protonation). The activation dynamics can be modulated by rational variation of the XY chelating ligand. The electron‐donating capability and steric hindrance of XY have a direct impact on the reactivity of the Ru−N bond, and XY=N,N′‐dimethyl‐, N,N′‐diethyl‐, and N,N,N′,N′‐tetramethylethylenediamine afford complexes that are more prone to activation. Such activation in acidic media is fully reversible, and proton concentration also governs the deactivation rate, that is, tether‐ring closure slows down with decreasing pH. Interaction of a closed‐tether complex and its open‐tether counterpart with 5′‐guanosine monophosphate revealed selectivity of the active (open) complex towards interaction with nucleobases. This work presents ruthenium tether complexes as exceptional pH‐dependent switches with potential applications in cancer research.}} . Chemistry – A European Journal.

Cirera, B., Giménez-Agulló, N., Björk, J., Martínez-Peña, F., Martin-Jimenez, A., Rodriguez-Fernandez, J., Pizarro, A.M., Otero, R., Gallego, J.M., Ballester, P., et al.(2016). Thermal selectivity of intermolecular versus intramolecular reactions on surfaces . Nature Communications. 7.

Alcaide, B., Almendros, P., Fernández, I., Martín-Montero, R., Martínez-Peña, F., Ruiz, M.P., Torres, M.R.(2015). Gold-Catalyzed Reactivity Reversal of Indolizidinone-Tethered β-Amino Allenes Controlled by the Stereochemistry . ACS Catalysis. 5. (8). p. 4842-4845.

CONFERENCE ABSTRACT

(2017). Ruthenium complexes as new pH-​dependent switchable metallodrugs. 253rd ACS National Meeting & Exposition.