Bio:Trained in Science and Embryology at the University of Valencia, Spain, Dr Carmen Rubio specialized in cytogenetic studies in human reproduction, partly at the University of Barcelona. She completed her PhD in the field of Reproductive Genetics and post-doctoral research included research in male and female meiosis at the laboratory of Drs. Patricia Hunt and Terry Hassold (Washington State University, USA). She has published more than 100 papers in the main peer-reviewed specialist journals in the field, books chapters as well as numerous lectures at conferences worldwide. She is appointed as lecturer in post-graduate courses in Reproductive Genetics, supervising PhD students, and she is an active member of ESHRE, ASRM and board member of the PGDIS society. Currently she is the head of the Research & Development department at Igenomix (Vitrolife group). Her main current research interests after 30 years working in this field, are non-invasive approaches of genetic testing, being particularly active in the study of chromosomal abnormalities in the cell-free DNA released into the culture medium as a non-invasive approach for the assessment of embryo viability.
Kenneth J. Moise Jr, Prof
Austin, Texas, USA
Bio:Kenneth J. Moise Jr, M.D. is Professor of Women’s Health at Dell Medical School. He also serves as the Director of the Comprehensive Fetal Care Center at Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas.
Dr. Moise completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt University followed by a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Moise is the former Director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He is the former President of the International Fetal Medicine and Surgery Society and served for many years as the Treasurer/Secretary of that organization. He is a founding member of the North American Fetal Treatment Network (NAFTNet) having served on its executive board and its steering committee. He is board certified in general Obstetrics and Gynecology as well as Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
Dr. Moise’s interest in fetal therapy spans a 35+ year period. He is recognized world-wide for his contributions in the fetal treatment of Rh disease including the development of middle cerebral artery Doppler for the non-invasive detection of fetal anemia and the use of free fetal DNA to determine the fetal RHD status in the U.S.. He was instrumental in the formation of the three previous fetal centers – the Center for Maternal and Infant Health at the University of North Carolina, the Texas Children’s Fetal Center in Houston and The Fetal Center at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. In 2019, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine for his work in hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn.
Ieva Miceikaite, Dr
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Bio:Dr. Ieva Miceikaite is a postdoctoral fellow at the Talkowski Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She completed her PhD in Health Sciences at the University of Southern Denmark, where her research focused on advancing both invasive and non-invasive prenatal genetic testing.
Building on her doctoral work, Dr. Miceikaite now continues the development of high-resolution, exome-based non-invasive fetal screening approaches, aiming to improve early and risk-free detection of fetal disorders. At the cfDNA2025 conference, she will present her talk, High-Resolution Non-Invasive Cell-Free DNA Sequencing in Pregnancy, showcasing the newest achievements in the field of noninvasive prenatal care.
Natalie Chandler, PhD FRCPath
London, England
Bio:Natalie Chandler is a Principal Clinical Scientist at the Rare & Inherited disease Laboratory, NHS North Thames Genomic Laboratory Hub at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London UK where she manages the translational research team. Her primary interests are in providing and expanding prenatal clinical diagnostic services. This includes non-invasive prenatal diagnosis for single gene disorders and rapid next generation sequencing testing on invasive samples.
Markus Hodal Drag, MSc, PhD
Copenhagen, Denmark
Bio:Markus Hodal Drag, MSc, PhD is an Industrial Postdoctoral Fellow at the Copenhagen Zoo and the University of Copenhagen. After graduating as a MSc in Biology-Biotechnology with his final thesis in parasite diagnostics from the Danish National Veterinary Institute, he completed his PhD in Veterinary and Animal Sciences at University of Copenhagen, where his research focused on the use of genomics and systems biology to improve animal welfare in pig breeding. Building on the research experiences from advanced bioinformatics to molecular diagnostics, his PostDoc project at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research investigated the use of methylation changes to cell-free DNA as an early indication of inflammation in obesity models, a precursor to type 2 diabetes. Using these tools and techniques, he adapted third-generation DNA sequencing and machine learning to avian cell-free DNA for the development of new diagnostics for important clinical infections in endangered birds and for general veterinary use, which is his current research focus.
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