Marta Jansa Perez is the Director of Embryology at Bridge Clinic, a fertility care centre based in London. With her extensive experience in clinical embryology, service development and management, research, and lecturing, Marta delivers compassionate care to every patient.
Marta holds an impressive academic background, including:
- BSc in Biology
- MSc in Genetics and Microbiology
- PhD in Molecular Genetics
- HCPC Registration as Clinical Embryologist
- Diploma in Clinical Embryology
Marta’s achievements include receiving the 2011 Claire Gillott Memorial Prize (ACE) for her leadership role as consultant embryologist at King’s College Hospital Assisted Conception Unit and the 2019 Imperial College NHS Trust ‘Make a Difference Award’ for service provision at the Wolfson Fertility Centre.
Marta is the Treasurer for the British Fertility Society, member of the Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists (ARCS) and the UK scientist representative for the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE). She is a member of the HFEA Licensed Centres Panel and, as such, works with the regulator on emerging issues in the sector.
Marta is committed to providing the highest level of care and support to patients on their fertility journey. Her compassionate approach helps patients feel comfortable and confident in their treatment.
Obs: What drove you to choose a career in embryology?
MJP: Whilst completing my postdoctoral research on zebrafish embryo development in New Zealand, I realised that I wanted to move to healthcare, where I could apply my scientific knowledge to improve the lives of others. The opportunity came up to start an IVF centre in Hamilton, New Zealand and, after training in Auckland, we started providing care to patients with excellent results. I have never looked back, as I feel that clinical embryology is the best job in the world. I get to combine science, patient care, teamwork, research, teaching and supervising as well as working with a great multidisciplinary team where everyone puts the patients and their outcomes at the core of what we do.
Obs: Are you currently involved with any research? If so, could you tell us more about it?
MJP: Bridge Clinic London is a new clinic, so we do not have a lot of data to analyse yet. We have, however, submitted an abstract on a case report for the national fertility conference (Fertility 2024). We are also participating in a social research project with Manuela Perrotta’s group at Queen Mary’s University London in collaboration with Progress Educational Trust as well as considering starting a research project with Imperial College London, where I am an honorary senior lecturer.
We are also planning to link with researchers in Cambridge doing embryo research in view of asking patients who wish to donate their embryos to research to consider these projects. In the future, we will participate in randomised controlled trials to investigate the value of new techniques or treatments to fertility patients.
Obs: What could your findings mean to the reproductive health industry and the patient experience?
MJP: The main focus of research in this field is to understand better the process of reproduction, from fertilisation to embryo development and implantation, as there are still details that we do not understand. More knowledge in this area might allow us to potentially identify which embryo/s if any are capable of leading to a viable pregnancy and therefore increase patients’ chances of success.
Equally, assessing emerging technologies in the field for their effectiveness, as well as understanding what is important for patients, can only lead to better patient care and outcomes.
Obs: Could you tell us more about the latest advances in assisted reproduction technology?
MJP: In this field, new technologies are developing all the time. The challenge for us professionals is to be able to assess their safety and effectiveness. Often patients are offered these at an added cost, and I feel it is important to have data on these before asking patients to pay extr