Dr. Richard J. Martin is the inaugural holder of the Drusinsky/Fanaroff Chair in Neonatology at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital [RB&C], and Professor of Pediatrics, Reproductive Biology, and Physiology & Biophysics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.  He was raised and educated in Australia, and received his medical degree from the University of Sydney School of Medicine.  His 46 year academic faculty career has been spent entirely at Rainbow, where he has served as Division Chief of Neonatology, and currently serves as the Division’s Director of Research.  During his tenure he has provided care for a multitude of sick neonates in one of the nation’s premiere NICUs.

Dr. Martin is a most sought after national and international expert in the field of Developmental Respiratory Neurobiology.  His research is focused primarily on control of breathing and lung and airway injury during early postnatal life.  His research has explored basic biologic mechanisms that have led to a better understanding of clinical neonatal problems, and have resulted in improved clinical care.   He has served and continues to serve on the steering and oversight committees of several multicenter clinical trials that have impacted neonatal care.  He has been funded by the NIH for over 40 years, and has trained many of the leaders in Academic Neonatology in the United States and abroad. 

Dr. Martin is senior editor of the major neonatal text, Fanaroff and Martin`s Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, now in its 11th edition.  Also to his credit are over 200 first- and/or co-authored articles in peer-reviewed journals, and more than 100 chapters and reviews published in well-known books in the medical field.  He serves on numerous editorial boards, is past Chair of the Sub-Board of Neonatal/ Perinatal Medicine of the American Board of Pediatrics.  He received the 2017 Virginia Apgar Award of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the 2018 Mary Ellen Avery Award of the American Pediatric Society, as well as the Legends of Neonatology Award in 2018.  These awards reflect the highest level of recognition in the field of Neonatology.

On a personal note, Dr. Martin and his wife, Dr. Patricia Martin, celebrated 50 years of marriage in 2021.  They have two children, both practicing psychiatrists, and four grandchildren. Dr Martin enjoys being very active, by traveling and exercising.