18th International Conference of the AERA

  2. Ponentes

Ponentes

Ana Josefa Soler
University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Spain

Full professor at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. Her research focuses on the development of assisted reproductive technologies (sperm cryopreservation, artificial insemination, and in vitro fertilization) in small ruminants, mainly sheep, goats, and deer. In recent years, her laboratory have concentrated on optimizing in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the above species. Using this ART, they have been able to obtain deer embryos, and in 2022, the first Manchego sheep lambs produced in vitro were born. In addition, the development of this technique has allowed to her team to understand the relationship between sperm characteristics and fertility. Currently, she is investigating the interaction between extracellular vesicles from female reproductive fluids and sperm, and their influence on sperm functionality and fertility.

Cristina Cuello
University of Murcia, Spain

Holds a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Murcia (1999) and a PhD from the same institution (2004). She is a member of the Animal Reproduction research group at the University of Murcia and has completed research stays at INRA-Nouzilly (Tours, France) and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Uppsala, Sweden). Her research is focused on reproductive technologies in pigs, with particular emphasis on embryo technologies, including vitrification, non-surgical embryo transfer, in vitro embryo production, and genome editing using CRISPR. She has led and participated in several competitive research projects and is currently the principal investigator of a project aimed at optimizing gene editing in porcine oocytes and zygotes. Her contributions over the years to the development of embryo cryopreservation and transfer in the porcine species have been highly relevant, and her laboratory is recognized as a reference in these technologies.

Heriberto Rodríguez Martínez

Professor Emeritus Heriberto Rodriguez-Martinez has been working in andrology since he graduated (DVM Uruguay 1975, MSc 1980 & PhD Sweden 1983, Post-doc USA 1984) and throughout his academic life (Prof in reproductive biotechnology, SLU, 1991; Prof in reproductive biology, LiU, 2010; Prof Em from late 2017). Internationally active, he has tutored 66 graduate students to degree, hosted many post-docs and has a profuse track-record (authored about 600 original papers and reviews). He is mostly cited for his work in semen diagnostics and preservation, prognosis of male fertility as well as the function/s of seminal plasma (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5194-2124).

Jun Wu
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA

Tenured professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and a leader in pluripotent stem cell (PSC) research. His work leverages PSCs for developmental and disease modeling, with broad implications for regenerative medicine and reproductive biology. His laboratory has identified novel PSC states, advanced stem cell–based embryo models, and pioneered interspecies chimera research, including the first reported human–pig and human–monkey chimeras. He also helped define cell competition and adhesion incompatibilities as major barriers to cross-species chimerism and was the first to generate human and bovine blastocyst-like structures (blastoids). Dr. Wu has published over 100 papers in leading journals, including Cell, Science, and Nature. His work was named among the “Top Ten Scientific Breakthroughs” in 2017 and 2021. He is a recipient of multiple prestigious awards and serves on editorial boards of leading journals, including Cell Stem Cell.

Kiho Lee
University of Missouri, USA

Graduated from Seoul National University with a Bachelor's degree in Animal Sciences. Then, he received MS and PhD from Purdue University, and Postdoc training from University of Missouri-Columbia. While at University of Missouri, he generated immune-deficient pigs that could support growth and proliferation of human induced pluripotent stem cells. During that time, he was also involved in establishing genome-edited pigs resistant to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus (PRRSV) by disrupting CD163 gene using genome editing technology. He is currently Professor in the Division of Animal Sciences at University of Missouri and served as the Director of the National Swine Resource and Research Center (NSRRC) in US. Dr. Lee’s lab currently focuses on designing genetically engineered large animal models for agriculture and biomedicine. 

Priscila Ramos Ibeas
Department of Animal Reproduction at INIA, CSIC, Spain

She completed her PhD in 2014 at INIA, focusing on the effects of assisted reproductive technologies on embryos and offspring. She then undertook a Marie Curie ITN Postdoctoral Fellowship at Avantea (Italy, 2015–2016), followed by a Marie Curie IF at the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom, 2016–2018), where she investigated the molecular mechanisms of pluripotency and germline specification in pig embryos.

In 2018, she returned to Spain with a Talent Attraction Postdoctoral Fellowship, and in 2020, she was awarded a Ramón y Cajal position, establishing her research group at INIA, CSIC. Since 2021, she has held a Científico Titular position and currently co-leads the Animal Genomic Engineering Group. Her laboratory investigates the molecular mechanisms governing early embryo development to reduce pregnancy loss in livestock, applying cutting-edge technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, single-cell RNA-seq, and extended embryo culture systems.