Santiago Munne

Santiago Munné, Ph.D.,Director  of Reprogenetics, LLC
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Santiago Munné, Ph.D., originally from Barcelona (Catalonia), gained his Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Pittsburgh and joined Dr. Cohen at Cornell University Medical College, New York in 1991. There he developed the first Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) test to detect embryonic numerical chromosome abnormalities to avoid Down's syndrome and other abnormalities. This, and his following work were recognized with two consecutive prizes in 1994 and 1995 of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology.

At the Institute for reproductive Medicine and Science of Saint Barnabas since 1995, Dr. Munné became the director of PGD. At the Institute he developed the first test to detect chromosome translocations in human embryos, which significantly reduces the chance of these patients of losing their pregnancy while avoiding birth defects associated with this condition. For this work he obtained the general Program Prize of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in 1996. Following on his research on PGD of aneuploidy his group also demonstrated a significant decrease in spontaneous abortions after PGD in women 35 and older undergoing IVF and PGD, which was again recognized in 1998 with the prize paper of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology. His PGD team has been able to higher implantation rates, lower spontaneous abortions and trisomic offspring in women of advanced maternal age undergoing PGD.

The clinical activity of Dr. Munné consists in directing Reprogenetics, a laboratory providing PGD services in the US, Europe, and Japan. His PGD team have performed more than 500 PGD of translocations and over 4500 PGD cycles for chromosome abnormalities related to advanced maternal age and are the world's leaders in both fields. Under Dr. Munné direction Reprogenetics was the first US laboratory accredited by a regulatory agency (NYDH) to perform any type of PGD.

Dr. Munné research activity is focused in developing new PGD techniques and to understanding the impact of chromosome abnormalities in human reproduction. Dr. Munné has published more than 150 publications, and is a frequent lecturer, both nationally and internationally, on his team’s work and the field of preimplantation genetics. He is also member of the Board of Directors of the Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis International Society (PGDIS).

Santiago, or “Santi” as friends know him, is married to Claudia Munné, whom shares his passion for scuba diving, traveling, good food and good wine. They are blessed with their first daughter, Mar.