Dr. Mara Simopoulou

Greece

Dr. Mara Simopoulou is an Associate Professor of Physiology and Embryology at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and a Deputy Laboratory Manager at Aretaieio University Hospital IVF Unit. She holds the position of an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at The Institute for Women’ Health University College London (UCL) where she works closely with Professor Joyce Harper. She is also an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at University of Chiang Mai Thailand. Dr. Simopoulou is a Certified Senior Clinical Embryologist from ESHRE and has over 20 years of experience in the field of Assisted Reproduction and Clinical Embryology. Dr. Simopoulou serves as the Head of the “Research Group of Physiology of Reproduction and Clinical Embryology”.  She is a co-founder of the “Scientific Society of Clinical Embryology and Biology of Reproduction” based in Greece, and she represents Greece at the “International Fertility Education Initiative”. Dr. Simopoulou is personally invested in Education and Training of Clinical Embryologists and Biologists of Human Reproduction. She is the founder of the “Advanced Clinical Embryology Group” and Scientific Director of the “Advanced Course in Clinical Embryology and Physiology of the Preimplantation Embryo” offered by the NKUA Medical School. She serves as an Editorial Board Member for numerous journals such as JARG and SBiRM, and she also serves as a Reviewer for Journals such as Human Reproduction.

Dr. Simopoulou studied Molecular Biology at King’s College of London, United Kingdom and in 1998 she obtained her Master of Sciences degree in Prenatal Genetics and Fetal Medicine from UCL of United Kingdom. In 2004 she was awarded her Ph.D in Obstetrics and Gynaecology & Human Genetics from UCL on “Molecular and Cytogenetic Approaches in Analyzing Human Preimplantation Embryos” supervised by the late Professor Joy Delhanty and Professor Joyce Harper. She was attached as a Research Fellow specializing in PGT in UCL and did a postgraduate training at Mount Sinai Hospital-New York. As an academic, she is actively involved in the undergraduate teaching of Medical students in the University of NKUA, and in the supervision of numerous postgraduate students attending MSc Programs focusing on Physiology of Reproduction and Clinical Embryology in Greece and in the UK\n\n

Dr. Simopoulou serves as the Head of the “Research Group of Physiology of Reproduction and Clinical Embryology” in NKUA supervising PhDs and Postdoctoral fellows. Her research focuses on the preimplantation embryo and its evaluation as well as on novel approaches on addressing ovarian insufficiency. She enjoys numerous collaborations on an academic, clinical and research level with University Departments, Assisted Conception Units and Hospitals. Dr. Simopoulou has authored and co-authored 90 research articles published in international peer-reviewed journals. Her personal mission in the scientific community is to contribute to the successful management of the challenging reproductive journey of infertile patients, advancing the field through her published work along with balancing her teaching, research and clinical commitments in the field of Clinical Embryology and Genetics