María José Escribá, Ph.D.

In 2001, she started working at IVI Valencia, sponsored by the IDE Action and since then, Dr Escribá was encouraged to one unique end: to develop biotechnologies in the field of human reproduction. The first Dr. Escribá’s contribution was to develop and translate to the clinical practice the first European vitrification protocol for human blastocysts, in 2003. Additionally, a second line, still in force, was based on rescuing non-viable tripronucleated and unipronucleated human eggs, resulting from an anomalous fertilization after IVF or ICSI by self-correction or microsurgical correction. Since 2003, Dr. Escribá combines her research activity with the clinical IVF practice, which allows her to make her efforts relevant to the needs of those who require assisted reproduction. Dr. Escribà’s main topic areas of interest are in vitro rescue of immature GV oocytes, recovered from stimulated cycles; fertility preservation in cancer patients by ovarian cortex cryopreservation; pre-conceptional genetic diagnosis of human gametes and gamete genome editing by Crispr-Cas9 technology.

Dr. Escribá participates as principal investigator in more than 10 competitive research projects, funded through regional (Generalitat Valenciana) and national (FIS Projects and CDTi) mechanisms. In addition, she serves as scientific advisor for the National Agency for Assessment and Prospective (ANECA) and regular reviewer for numerous reproductive journals. Dr. Escriba contributed to five doctoral thesis, published more than 45 original manuscripts and book chapters, and had approximately 50 presentations in national and international meetings.

Dr. Escribá aims to transmit her knowledge to undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral trainees, and to share her passion for research and innovation, not only as a career but also as a lifestyle. Her involvement in education began in her early career, teaching graduate courses of Biotechnology of Reproduction at the Veterinary Faculty of Valencia and four postgraduate courses. Dr. Escribá was accredited by the National Agency for Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) in 2016 for university education and since 2003, she is Coordinator of the Modules: Fertilization and Embryo Development; Cryobiology and Gamete and Embryo Multiplication for the Master’s Degree in Biotechnology of Assisted Human Reproduction.