Faculty
The faculty members of the Global Fertility Academy (GFA) rank among the world’s leading fertility specialists. In addition to their job-related knowledge and skills, they are trained in medical education and critical thinking approaches to curriculum and materials development.
is a gynecologist, specialized in reproductive medicine. He is currently a member of the Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, a university-affiliated infertility clinic in Valencia, Spain. He obtained his MD degree with later Special Distinction from the University of Valencia. In 1998 he was Fellow of the High Risk Pregnancy Unit of the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK. He is author or co-author of more than 100 publications and several book chapters. His special interests include mechanisms of recurrent miscarriage, impact of obesity on assisted reproduction and ART and chronic viral diseases.
was born in Philadelphia, USA, in 1968. He completed Medical School at the University of Valencia in 1992. He specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Hospital La Fe in Valencia from 1993 to1997 and attended training in Human Reproduction in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He also completed a research project about the influence of LH in oocyte quality in University of Valencia in 1999. Since January 2000 he has been working for the Human Reproduction Unit of the Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad in Valencia, and has published 19 papers in this field indexed in the Medline database. He has recently received the Scientific Program Prize Paper Award at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
trained in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Seville in 1996. During his studies he made short stays at Federal University of Río Grande do Norte (Brazil) and at CHI Andre Gregoire Hospital of París. In 2002 he specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University Hospital Virgen Macarena of Seville. Between March 2003 and December 2004 he underwent specialist training in reproductive medicine at IVI Sevilla Clinic and at IVI Valencia Clínica.
Dr Fernandez-Sánchez is currently Director of IVI Sevilla (Spain) (from January 2005). He is also a member of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) as well as the Spanish Society of Fertility (SEF). He has authored more than 10 peer review papers and his educational activities have included lecturing at 50 national and international congresses and tutoring 15 courses. In 2006 and 2008 he received the Research Award of the Seville Medical College and the Royal Academy of Medicine of Seville Award.
graduated as Doctor in Medicine and Surgery at the Catholic University in Rome in 1998 and in 2003 he qualified as a Specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology from the same University. Dr Gambadauro started his clinical and scientific career at the Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli" in Rome, first as a resident doctor (1998-2003), and then as a Research Fellow (2004-2005). In the years 2005-2006 he was a Clinical Research Fellow in the field of gynecological endoscopy and minimal access surgery at the Royal Free Hospital of London, and in 2007 he joined the Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad (IVI), Spain, being currently a specialist gynecologist at the IVI Clinic in Barcelona.
Dr Gambadauro's activity is focused on Reproductive Medicine, with a special interest towards Gynecological Endoscopy and Reproductive Surgery. Other special interests of his include surgical education and new technologies and communication in medicine. Dr Gambadauro is currently the Junior Deputy of the ESHRE Special Interest Group on Reproductive Surgery, and a member of the Editorial Board of Gynecological Surgery, the journal of the European Society of Gynecological Endoscopy (ESGE). He has been a Peer Reviewer for the scientific journals European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Gynecological Surgery and Medical Education.
graduated from Madrid University School of Medicine in 1990 and received his Ob./Gyn. certification from Autonoma University – Hospital La Paz in 1995. From 1997 to 1998 he studied at Yale University under a Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellowship. He is Assistant Professor of Ob./Gyn. at Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid as well as Director, IVI-Madrid, Madrid.
García Velasco is an Associate Editor of Human Reproduction and RBM Online and a member of the Advisory Board at ESHRE. He is also a board member of the Spanish Fertility Society and Mediterranean Society for Reproductive Medicine. He is Editor of Postgraduate Obstetrics and Gynecology (Spanish edition) and Cuadernos de Medicina Reproductiva as well as an ad hoc reviewer for several journals in the field. Garcia Velasco has had more than 100 publications in peer reviewed journals.
has been the Medical Director of IVI Vigo since 2004. He joined the IVI group in 1998 and has worked in various branches of the organization including the main headquarters in Valencia as well as in Murcia and Almeria. His research projects focus on different areas of reproductive medicine, especially ovarian stimulation and the complications thereof, ovarian physiology and premature failure of ovarian function. Dr Muñoz graduated in 1990 from the Universidad del Cauca in Colombia with a Degree in Medicine and Surgery. He specialized in Gynecology and Obstetrics and completed the postgraduate course run by the Universidad del Cauca in 1995. He worked as a gynecologist and obstetrician for three years and, afterwards taught as professor at the Universidad Antonio Nariño in Colombia. He came to Spain in 1998 to participate in a fellowship program in Reproductive Medicine/Gynecological Endocrinology at the University of Valencia and Instituto Valenciano de infertilidad where he completed his training with a Master’s in Gynecological Oncology in the year 2000. To date, he is studying to complete a doctorate program in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Valencia. Muñoz received a number of local awards for his research work on the effect of LH on the endometrium maturation. He has contributed articles to various journals in the field of Assisted Reproduction, namely, Human Reproduction, Prenatal Diagnosis, and more. He also shares authorship of several books of reproductive medicine and ultrasonography.
obtained his Medical Degree at the University of Valencia in 1978. He was Associate Professor at the School of Medicine of the University of Valencia from 1980 to 1982 and Assistant Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1986 to 1999. Professor Antonio Pellicer has been Full Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the University of Valencia, Spain since 1999 and Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Valencia since 2006. Professor Pellicer is founder and Director of the Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad (IVI) and is also Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Hospital Universitario Dr Peset in Valencia. He is (co)-author of over 200 textbook chapters, has published over 500 journal articles in international journals and presented over 350 lectures at national and international symposia. Professor Pellicer is a member of many scientific societies devoted to human reproduction and has received many grants and awards, including the “King Jaime I Prize in Clinical Medicine” in 2004, and he is also a six-time winner of the Annual Meeting Prize Paper of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine between 1987 and 2005.
was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1968. He graduated in Medicine from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In the same institution he obtained his degree of Specialist in Gynecology and Obstetrics and a Master’s in Gynecology. Sérgio Soares attained his PhD in Cellular Biology and Immunology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. After that, he spent 5 years at the IVI Valencia, working on his postdoctoral specialization. His works, mostly focused on the clinical aspects of embryo implantation/uterine receptiveness, are published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Human Genetics, Human Reproduction, Human Reproduction Update, Fertility and Sterility and others. He is now the Director of the IVI clinic in Lisbon, Portugal. Sérgio Soares is married and the father of two children.
was born in Valencia 1958. He graduated from the School of Medicine of the University of Valencia, Spain. He specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Clinical Hospital of the University of Valencia and sub-specialized in Reproductive Medicine at the University of California (Irvine). At present he is Full Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology of the University of Valencia. In addition, he is President and co-founder of the Equipo IVI (Valencia Institute of Infertility). He has published more that 125 papers in international publications and he has written 10 books up to now.
graduated in Medicine at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, Spain, and specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He joined the IVI group in 1996 specializing in Reproductive Medicine. In 2008 he attained a Master’s in Business Management. At present Dr Requena is a General Medical Director of IVI Group and Co-Director of IVI Madrid. He is member of ESHRE and of the Spanish Society of Fertility. He is the author of many articles at national and international level as well as supervisor of Human Reproduction and has been speaker at many international congresses. His areas of interest are Reproductive Endocrinology and in Vitro maturation.
obtained his MD in 1993 at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He started his professional career with a fellowship in Developmental Biology in the Growth Factor Laboratory of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CSIC-Madrid). He obtained his PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry in the research field of embryo development actions of insulin family of growth factors. Then he started postdoctoral and clinical training at the Pediatrics Departement of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, UK. In 2000 he started his clinical training in Ob./Gyn. at the Fundación Jiménez Díaz with a special interest in Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproduction. During his residency he worked as Assistant Professor at the Medical School as well as the Nurse School of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. After his specialization he started to work as Fertility Specialist in the IVI Group in Madrid. Dr Serna is currently Clinical Director of the IVI Center in Bilbao, Spain.
obtained his MD from Valencia University in 1985 and is on the Board of Certified Obstetrics and Gynecologists after completing his residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology in the University Clinical Hospital of Valencia from 1986 to 1991. Dr Simón held a postdoctoral research fellowship on Reproductive Immunology in the Department of Ob./Gyn. at Stanford University from 1991 to 1994. Since 1994 he has been Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology at Valencia University, Spain, and Scientific Director of the Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad Foundation (FIVI). In 2004 he was appointed as Head of the Valencia Stem Cell Bank and Coordinator of Regenerative Medicine until 2007 at Príncipe Felipe Research Centre, a private non-profit organization devoted to stem cell derivation and research. In 2007 he became Full Professor at the University of Valencia. Research in his laboratory focuses on human embryonic implantation, uterine receptivity, human embryonic and adult stem cells leading to the publication of over 253 peer review papers and 14 books. Since 2001 his background in Reproductive Medicine led him to the research on human embryonic stem cells in Spain. He has received many national and international awards and is a member of the Editorial Boards of several international publications including Human Reproduction and Reproductive Biomedicine on-line. Professor Simón has also served as a member of the research committees of international societies including SGI, ASRM, ESHRE and IFFS and the World Health Organization and as a member of the HRP Scientific and Ethical Review Group since 1998.
completed his postgraduate studies in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Hospital Español de México in México City. He further completed a Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility fellowship at the Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad in Valencia, Spain. His prime interest is in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and currently he is the medical director of ENDOGYN Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Gynecologic Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine Centre in Quito, Ecuador, devoted to PCOS patients.
