Fiona Pancken

Fiona Maria Pancken obtained her Master of Science in Biology: Molecular & Cel-lular Life Sciences from the VUB in June 2023. For her master’s thesis in the Reproduction and Immunology (REIM) team under the Genetics, Reproduction and Development (GRAD) research group, she investigated the role of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptor signalling in human preimplantation embryo development. Using donated human embryos, she examined how LPA treat-ment influences gene expression, cytoskeletal dynamics, and cell polarization. Her work built on previous findings showing that LPA stimulates trophectoderm (TE) formation in murine and bovine embryos, as well as TE-homologue formation in human blastoids.    

In October 2023, Fiona joined the VUB as a scientific assistant under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hilde Van de Velde. In collaboration with Dawn-Bio (CSO: Alok Javali), she focuses on identifying novel regulators of embryonic development, with the goal of improving embryo culture media for IVF. She applied for FWO funding in March 2024 to support this research.    

Looking ahead, Fiona plans to start her PhD in October 2025, continuing under Prof. Van de Velde’s guidance. Her doctoral project will focus on uncovering key regulators of human primitive endoderm formation, aiming to advance understanding of early embryonic lineage specification and its applications in assisted reproduction.