Efstathia Pagkou
Senior Clinical Embryologist
Graduate of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Quality Control Manager
Curriculum Vitae
She studied in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
During her undergraduate studies, she conducted her thesis in the field of Developmental Genetics and Molecular Biology (Department of Biology, AUTH), in which she constructed a photographic chromosomal map of the species Drosophila diplacantha. At the same time, she was trained in Prenatal Diagnosis techniques at the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory of the Medical Centre Division at the Centre Médical Universitaire in Geneva.
In 1996, after completing her degree, she pursued training in Assisted Reproduction techniques at the laboratory of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), under the supervision of Andre Van Steirteghem, Peter Nagy, and Ronny Janssen. Vrije Universiteit Brussel was the first laboratory worldwide where intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was successfully applied. At VUB, she completed her training in all techniques applied in an embryology/andrology laboratory, ranging from semen analysis to embryo biopsy.
Her training continued in advanced methods such as vitrification of oocytes, embryos, and blastocysts at the IVI Clinic in Madrid.
Upon returning to Greece, she organized the embryology laboratory of a private Medically Assisted Reproduction Unit (IVF clinic) in Thessaloniki and implemented techniques such as ICSI, FNA, MESA, and TESE, being among the first clinical embryologists to introduce and establish these techniques in Greece. She subsequently fully organized the embryology/andrology laboratory and cryopreservation bank of gametes and embryos in a private IVF unit in Thessaloniki. For several years, she served as Head of Embryology/Andrology Laboratories in two private IVF units in Thessaloniki. Since 2022, she has been a senior member of the embryology team at Fertilia.
She was the founder and head of the company “IVF Consultant – Pagkou Efstathia.” She is a member of the Panhellenic Association of Clinical Embryologists (PEKE) and the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE).
She has participated in numerous conferences and has several publications in international scientific journals.