María José De los Santos, Ph.D

Biography

Dr. Maria J. de los Santos started her career in 1991 in the IVF laboratory of IVI Valencia. She received her Ph.D. in Biology from University of Valencia in 1996, and from 1996-1999 she carried out her postdoctoral fellowship in Reproductive Immunology at Fearing Research Laboratory at Harvard Medical School, under the supervision of Dr. Deborah Anderson and Dr. Joseph Hill. She also worked as clinical embryologist at the Brigham and Women´s Hospital under the direction of Dr. Catherine Racowsky.

As a clinical ESHRE and ASEBIR Senior Clinical Embryologist and researcher, her main focus is to study embryo quality, embryo development and in vitro embryo culture conditions. Currently, she is the Director of the Clinical Embryology Laboratory at IVI Valencia and designated participant from Spanish Government for the 3rd and 4th edition of “Guide to the Quality and Safety of Tissues and Cells for Human Application” of the European Council.

She has published over 40 original “peer review” articles in leading reproductive journals and wrote than 20 book chapters. She has also participated as researcher in competitive projects funded by Generalitat Valenciana (IMPIVA) and Spanish Government (CDTI).

Dr. De los Santos has been involved in teaching since her early career. Presently, she is the Coordinator of two modules (The Clinical Embryology Laboratory and Improving Embryo Quality) from the Master’s Degree in Biotechnology of Assisted Human Reproduction (former doctorate degree of the Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of University of Valencia School of Medicine) given by ADEIT since 2001.

Education and Training

B.Sc.	Biology. University of Valencia, Spain (1990)
Master Degree	Biology of Reproduction. University of Valencia, Spain (1991)
Ph.D (Biology)	Valencia School of Medicine. University of Valencia, Spain (1996)
Fellowship	Postdoctoral fellowship on Immunology of Reproduction at Fearing Research Laboratory. Harvard Medical School, MA, USA (1996-1999)

Honors and recognition

Designated participant from Spanish Government for the 3rd and 4th edition of “Guide to the Quality and Safety of Tissues and Cells for Human Application” of the European Council	2015-present
Past -Coordinator of Special Interest Group in Embryology ESHRE	2015-present
Coordinator of Special Interest Group in Embryology ESHRE	2013-2015
Deputy Member of Special Interest Group in Embryology ESHRE	2010-2013
Deputy of the Interest Group in Embryo Quality of ASEBIR	2013-2015
Associate Editor of Medres	2013
President of the Interest Group in Embryo Quality of ASEBIR	2009-2013
ASEBIR Best Clinical Oral Communication Award, Valencia, Spain	2009
Sociedad Española de Infertilidad Oral Communication Award, Sevilla, Spain	2000
Real Colegio Complutense (RCC), Harvard Grant	1998
William F. Milton Foundaiton Grant Award	1997
Sociedad Española de Infertilidad Oral Communication Award, Tenerife, Spain	1995
American Scoiety for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Award, Seattle, USA	1994
Sociedad Española de Infertilidad Award, Alicante, Spain	1991

Publications

Embryo long-term storage does not affect ART outcome: analysis of 58001 vitrified blastocysts over an 11-year period.
Cobo A, Coello A, DE Los Santos MJ, Remohi J, Bellver J

Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2024 Mar 23:S0002-9378(24)00469-1. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2024.03.033. Online ahead of print. . 2024 doi:

The effect of vitrification on blastocyst mitochondrial DNA dynamics and gene expression profiles.
Pérez-Sánchez M, Pardiñas ML, Díez-Juan A, Quiñonero A, Domínguez F, Martin A, Vidal C, Beltrán D, Mifsud A, Mercader A, Pellicer A, Cobo A, de Los Santos MJ

J Assist Reprod Genet. 2023 Oct 6. doi: 10.1007/s10815-023-02952-3. Online ahead of print.. 2023 doi:

ESHRE good practice recommendations on recurrent implantation failure.
ESHRE Working Group on Recurrent Implantation Failure, Cimadomo D, de Los Santos MJ, Griesinger G, Lainas G, Le Clef N, McLernon DJ, Montjean D, Toth B, Vermeulen N, Macklon N

Hum Reprod Open. 2023 Jun 15;2023(3):hoad023. doi: 10.1093/hropen/hoad023. eCollection 2023.. 2023 doi:

Human blastocysts uptake extracellular vesicles secreted by endometrial cells containing miRNAs related to implantation.
Segura-Benítez M, Bas-Rivas A, Juárez-Barber E, Carbajo-García MC, Faus A, De Los Santos MJ, Pellicer A, Ferrero H

Hum Reprod. 2023 Jul 5:dead138. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dead138. Online ahead of print. . 2023 doi:

Mosaic results after preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy may be accompanied by changes in global gene expression.
Martin A, Mercader A, Dominguez F, Quiñonero A, Perez M, Gonzalez-Martin R, Delgado A, Mifsud A, Pellicer A, De Los Santos MJ

Front Mol Biosci. 2023 Apr 14;10:1180689. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1180689. eCollection 2023.. 2023 doi:

Should embryo rebiopsy be considered a regular strategy to increase the number of embryos available for transfer?
Nohales M, Coello A, Martin A, Insua F, Meseguer M, de Los Santos MJ

J Assist Reprod Genet. 2023 Jul 11. doi: 10.1007/s10815-023-02875-z. Online ahead of print.. 2023 doi:

Human embryo polarization requires PLC signaling to mediate trophectoderm specification.
Zhu M, Shahbazi M, Martin A, Zhang C, Sozen B, Borsos M, Mandelbaum RS, Paulson RJ, Mole MA, Esbert M, Titus S, Scott RT, Campbell A, Fishel S, Gradinaru V, Zhao H, Wu K, Chen Z, Seli E, de Los Santos MJ, Zernicka-Goetz M

Elife. 2021 doi:

Revised guidelines for good practice in IVF laboratories (2015).
ESHRE Guideline Group on Good Practice in IVF Labs, De los Santos MJ, Apter S, Coticchio G, Debrock S, Lundin K, Plancha CE, Prados F, Rienzi L, Verheyen G, Woodward B, Vermeulen N

Hum Reprod. 2016 Apr;31(4):685-6. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dew016. Epub 2016 Feb 17.. 2016 doi:

Presentations

Pérez M Mercader A Mifsud A Diana Beltrán Vidal C Labarta E Pellicer A De los Santos MJ O-18 IS mtDNA CONTENT ASSESSMENT AN INDICATOR OF THE AMOUNT OF MITOCHONDRIA (TOTAL AND ACTIVE ONES) IN THE HUMAN BLASTOCYST?: A CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY APPROACH.. Presented at 76th American Society of Reproductive Medicine Scientific Congress, Virtual congress, October 17-21,2020

Vidal C Giles J Mollá Robles G De los Santos MJ Remohí J Cobo A P-542 LESSONS LEARNED FROM A 10 YEARS CRYOEMBRYO VITRIFICATION PROGRAM: THE AGE OF THE OOCYTE MATTERS.. Presented at 76th American Society of Reproductive Medicine Scientific Congress, Virtual congress, October 17-21,2020

De Frutos Sánchez S Ariza Lopez M Bronet F Martinez EV Gaytan M Mª Del Carmen Nogales De los Santos MJ P-1009 IS BLASTOCYST DEVELOPMENTAL RATE A GOOD PREDICTOR OF ONGOING PREGNANCY RATE IN EUPLOID BLATOCYSTS?. Presented at 76th American Society of Reproductive Medicine Scientific Congress, Virtual congress, October 17-21,2020

Tejera A Alegre L Delgado A De los Santos MJ Meseguer M P-175 Artificial oocyte activation (AOA) TREATMENT offers A NEW option in Previous unsuccessful cases due to poor fertilization history; a paired cohort sTudy. Presented at 75th American Society of Reproductive Medicine Scientific Congress, Philadelphia,PA. USA, 14-16 October 2019

Marta Pérez Mercader A Beltrán D Delgado A Escrich L Pellicer A Vidal C De los Santos MJ P-60 Is low mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content after fertilization failure due to oocyte aging in culture. Presented at the 35th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Vienna,Austria, 14-16 October 2019

Ángel Martin Vidal C Rodrigo L Mercader A Rubio C Giles J Remohí J De los Santos MJ P-310 Impact of different degrees of genetic mosaicism in the kinetic profile of the human embryo. Presented at the 35th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Vienna,Austria, 14-16 October 2019

Coello A De los Santos MJ Nohales Corcoles M Meseguer M Remohí J Cobo A P-107 Impact of fresh blastocyst parameters on survival and implantation in vitrified blastocyst cycles: analysis of 11936 warmed blastocysts.. Presented at the 35th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Vienna,Austria, 14-16 October 2019

Marin L Campos-Galindo I Dominguez F De los Santos MJ Mercader A Simon C Rubio C P-574 Effect of genistein and daidzein levels on ovarian response and embryo quality in PGT-A cycles. Presented at the 35th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Paris,France, 14-16 October 2019

Insua M Díez Juan A Mercader A Bellver J Escrich L Pellicer A De los Santos MJ P-265: Total mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content decreases along embryo development,insights of mtDNA turnover in human preimplantation development.. Presented at the 74th Scientific Congress & Expo of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Denver,CO,USA, 23-26 June 2019

Escrich L Soler N González Picazo A Buendía P Escribá MJ De los Santos MJ P-276: Effect of different commercial media on spontaneous in vitro maturation and kinetics of germinal-vesicle human oocytes. Presented at the 74th Scientific Congress & Expo of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Denver,CO,USA, 23-26 June 2019