Carlos Simón
Dr. Carlos SIMÓN - Professor Obs/Gyn at Valencia University & Director of Fundación IVI. SPAIN
Professor Simón earned his MD with an Award of Excellence from Valencia University in 1985 and is Board of Certified Obstetrics and Gynaecology since 1991. Professor Simón completed his PhD at Valencia University and received a postdoctoral grant for a Fellowship on Reproductive Immunology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Stanford University, California (USA) between 1991 and 1994.
On returning to Spain, he has received research grant support for ten projects from the Spanish government, and for the Regional Valencian government for 4 projects, one grant from the Basque government and support for an additional twelve projects from international organisations and American universities. His current positions are: Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University of Valencia (UV), Director of Fundación IVI (FIVI) and Scientific Director of IVIOMICS.
Project: Analysis and functionality of miRNAs on endometrial fluid
The analysis of endometrial secretions is a new trend in the non-invasive assessment of endometrial receptivity diagnosis. The aspiration of endometrial fluid does not affect pregnancy rates (van der Gaast et al, 2002), provides reliable read-outs of individual proteins correlating with day of cycle (van der Gaast et al, 2009; Simón et al, 1996) and has proven efficient in protein arrays using a luminex system (Boomsma et al, 2009).
Based on our preliminary results, we proposed that the endometrium release a specific pattern of miRNAs to the endometrial fluid during the receptive window of implantation that will be in contact with the preimplantation embryo. It might serve not only as a non-invasive diagnostic test for human endometrial receptivity but also to predict their impact on the development of the embryo in the adult life. Our specific objectives are:
- To determine the expression profiles of secreted miRNAs in endometrial fluid samples obtained at different phases of the menstrual cycle.
- To determine the cellular origin and targets of the circulating miRNAs present in endometrial fluid.
- To identify, by in silico analysis, the putative gene targets and functional pathways affected by the miRNAs that present differential levels in the receptivity phase.
- To proof its diagnostic sensibility and sensitivity by correlating their level with implantation rates in single and double embryo transfer. This diagnostic method is planned to be performed on the endometrial fluid obtained in a non-disruptive fashion 24 hours prior to embryo transfer. By optimizing the endometrial factor, we expect to improve implantation rates by a minimum of 10%.
