Keynote Speakers

Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz is a Professor of Mammalian Development and Stem Cell Biology at the University of Cambridge and Bren Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering at Caltech, California. Her passion lies in understanding how the embryo is built and how embryonic cells decide their fate for the very first time. This passion led her to reveal the remarkable self-organising and self-correcting properties of mouse and human embryos, pioneering the way for many studies of human and mouse embryogenesis. She directed studies of her team to create a technique that doubles the amount of time that human embryos can be cultured in the laboratory so they can reveal the beginnings of human life during embryo implantation. She has received numerous accolades including the EMBO Young Investigator Award 2001; recognition of her lifetime contribution to Reproductive Medicine, 2017; and a Pioneer Award from NIH, 2020. Her scientific biography, The Dance of Life (published by Penguin Random House and Basic Books in 2020) is an account of a young investigator’s scientific journey and describes Magdalena’s personal contributions to the encouragement and mentorship of women in science.

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