Carlos Simón

Biography

Board Certified and Full Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Valencia; Adjunct Clinical Professor, Department of Ob/Gyn, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA; Scientific Director of IGENOMIX and ex-scientific director of Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad (IVI). Since 1991, his basic and clinical research has contributed to the advance of Reproductive Medicine, specifically in the understanding of human endometrial receptivity, embryo viability, embryonic implantation and endometriosis. He discovered the relevance of the interleukin-1 system in embryonic implantation (Simon et al., JCEM 1993; 1994; Endocrinology 1994; BOR 2006). He demonstrated the deleterious effect of high hormonal levels in patients with high response to gonadotrophins thus modifying the established clinical practice (HR1995; Fertil Steril 1996; 1998). He pioneered the concept that human oocytes are affected in endometriosis (HR 1994; Fertil Steril 2000) thus changing the clinical practice in oocyte donation. He proposed a new embryo coculture system, now successfully used worldwide (JCEM 1996; Fertil Steril 2003). His basic research on endometrial receptivity led him to create and patent a customized array named endometrial receptivity array (ERA) for the molecular diagnosis of endometrial receptivity (Fertil Steril 2011, 2013). He has been awarded “Prize Jaime I 2011 in Medical Investigation” for his pioneering work in human endometrial receptivity disorders. In an independent bibliometric analysis considering publications in Reproductive Biology between 2003 and 2005, Carlos Simon was identified as the 9th most productive author in the world (Gonzalez-Alcaide G et al., Fertil Steril 90:941-56,2008). Since 2001, he has expanded his research into the field of stem cells, resulting in the derivation, characterization, and registration in the Spanish National Stem Cell Bank (BNLC) of ten human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines. He derived the first two hESC in Spain (Fertil Steril 2005) and described a new system for freezing hESC in the absence of animal contaminants. He derived VAL-6M, the first line with a monogenic disorder (Myotonic Dystrophy Type I) in Spain. Also, he obtained the first two hESC lines without destroying the human embryo using blastomere biopsy and demonstrated the lack of genetic diversity in the most common used hESC in the world (Mosher JT et al. N Engl J Med 2010). Finally, he reported the identification and characterization of human endometrial stem cells (Cervelló et al., PLoS ONE. 2010, 2011, 2012). As Principal Investigator, his work has been funded through 16 projects sponsored by the Spanish Government, 4 by the Valencian Government, including 2 PROMETEO (granted to prestigious scientists) and 16 projects by international organizations, American Universities and private companies. Metrics: At ISI Web of Knowledge Prof. Carlos Simon is author of 348 publications in international peer-review journals, adding up to an accumulated impact factor of 1,541.47. His papers have received a total of 11,139 cites with an average of 32 cites/paper. His H-Index is 60 and he is editor of 15 books. He has been Director of 28 PhD Thesis all qualified with “Cum Laude”, including 4 PhD Awards of Excellence and 3 European PhD. As inventor, his research has originated 13 Patent Applications, leading to the creation of IGENOMIX a biotech company.

Research Interest

Obstetrics and Gynecology