Martina Stenzel studied chemistry at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, before completing her PhD in 1999 at the Institute of Applied Macromolecular Chemistry, University of Stuttgart, Germany. With a DAAD scholarship (German Academic Exchange Service) in her pocket, she started working as a postdoctoral Fellow at the UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia. In 2002, she took on a position as a lecturer in Chemical Engineering at the University of New South Wales and worked in the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design (CAMD). She was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship in 2009 and was promoted to Full Professor in 2012. In 2013, she was appointed Co-Director of the Centre for Advanced Macromolecular Design (CAMD). She also holds an Adjunct-Professorship in Medicine at the University of Western Sydney. In 2014 she joined the School of Chemistry at UNSW to establish a research program on polymeric nano- and biomaterials.

Martina is interested in the design of polymers for biomedical applications, mainly drug delivery. Her research ranges from fundamental aspects of polymerization synthesis to the application of polymers in medicine. She combines polymers with sugar, proteins and drug moleculars to create smart nanoparticles for drug delivery.

Enhanced Delivery of the RAPTA-C Macromolecular Chemotherapeutic by Conjugation to Degradable Polymeric, Micelles Bianca M. Blunden, Hongxu Lu, Martina H. Stenzel, Biomacromolecules, 2013, 14, 4177–4188 Macromolecular platinum-drugs based on statistical and block copolymer structures and their DNA binding ability, Khairil Juhanni Abd Karim, Sandra Binauld, Wei Scarano, Martina H. Stenzel, Polymer Chemistry 2013, 4, 5542-5554 Effect of Shell-Crosslinking of Micelles on Endocytosis and Exocytosis: Acceleration of Exocytosis by Crosslinking, Yoseop Kim, Mohammad H. Pourgholami, David L. Morris, Martina H. Stenzel, Biomater. Sci. 2013, 1, 265-275 Acid-degradable polymers for drug delivery: a decade of innovation, Sandra Binauld and Martina H. Stenzel, Chem. Comm. 2013, 49, 2082-2102 Encapsulation of Low Molecular Weight Heparin (bemiparin) into Polymeric Nanoparticles obtained from Cationic Block copolymer: Properties and Cell Activity. F. Reyes-Ortega, G. Rodríguez, M. R. Aguilar, M. Lord, J. Whitelock, M. H. Stenzel, J. San Román, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2013, 1, 850-860 Bioconjugation using thiols: Old chemistry rediscovered to connect polymers with nature’s building blocks. Martina H. Stenzel, ACS MacroLetters, 2013, 2, 14−18 Synthesis of pH-responsive and thiol-degradable hollow microspheres. Wenfang Gu, Simon R. Simon Ting, Martina H. Stenzel, Polymer 2013, 54, 1010-1017 Nanodiamonds with surface grafted polymer chains as vehicles for cell imaging and cisplatin delivery: Enhancement of cell toxicity by PEGMEMA coating. Vien T. Huynh, Samuel Pearson, Janina-Miriam Noy, Amanda Abboud, Robert H. Utama, Hongxu Lu, Martina H. Stenzel, ACS MacroLett 2013, 2, 246−250 Inverse Miniemulsion Periphery RAFT Polymerization: A Convenient Route to Hollow Polymeric Nanoparticles with an Aqueous Core. Robert H. Utama, Martina H. Stenzel, Per B. Zetterlund, Macromolecules 2013, 46, 2118−2127 Folate-Conjugation to Polymeric Micelles via Boronic Acid Ester to Deliver Platinum Drugs to Ovarian Cancer. Wei Scarano, Hien T.T Duong, Hongxu Lu, Paul L De Souza, Martina H. Stenzel, Biomacromolecules, 2013, 14, 962−975 Photo-Sensitive RAFT-Agents for Advanced Microparticle Design. Michael Kaupp, Thomas Tischer, Astrid F. Hirschbiel, Andrew P. Vogt, Udo Geckle, Vanessa Trouillet, Thorsten Hofe, Martina H. Stenzel and Christopher Barner-Kowollik, Macromolecules 2013, 46, 6858–6872