Sylvain Martel

Sylvain Martel is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Medical Nanorobotics at Polytechnique Montréal, where he directs the Nanorobotics Laboratory. His groundbreaking work deploys magnetotactic bacteria (Magnetococcus marinus) as nanorobotic agents for precision drug delivery to hypoxic tumor zones, achieving 55% tumor penetration in colorectal models versus 1-2% in conventional chemotherapy.

His research integrates microbiology with engineering to develop clinically translatable platforms for cancer treatment. The 2016 Québec Science Discovery of the Year award recognized this interdisciplinary innovation, developed with collaborators from Université de Montréal, McGill University, and major hospital research centers.

Laboratory infrastructure supports magnetic navigation, microfluidics, and in vivo validation. Funding partners include CQDM, NSERC, CFI, and NIH.