Curriculum vitae

Curriculum vitae Dr. Isabel Santillán

Doctora por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

My name is Isabel Santillán Palencia. I became a gynecologist because I enjoy working with life and hope. My mother is also a gynecologist, and I have always loved medicine, ever since I was a little girl.

I studied at the Complutense University of Madrid, and I found it hard to choose a specialty because I liked many of them. However, some aspects of medicine seemed sad to me, as they dealt almost exclusively with illness and death. That is why I chose gynecology and obstetrics. I always saw at home how rewarding it is for a professional to help a woman achieve her dream of becoming a mother.

I decided to do my residency at La Paz University Hospital because, at that time, it was the hospital with the highest number of deliveries. To get there, I had to compete against 10,000 other doctors and ranked 338th out of 10,000 in the MIR exam. The effort was worth it, and I was able to train with great professionals.

At La Paz, I saw how much couples who wanted to become parents but could not were suffering. It was truly a very frustrating situation, and I decided to dedicate myself to helping them.

In addition to being bilingual in English, I speak quite good German, so I obtained a scholarship to learn ovarian cortex cryopreservation at the University Hospital of Innsbruck. This way, girls with cancer could preserve their fertility despite chemotherapy. When I returned to Spain in 2007, I worked for 2 years as an attending physician at La Paz, where I obtained another scholarship to study why some women did not get pregnant because their immune system rejected the baby. I also worked at Montepríncipe University Hospital, and for 5 years I worked at Ginefiv, specializing in Assisted Reproduction and In Vitro Fertilization.

In 2011, I completed my doctoral thesis on Immunology in Implantation, with the highest distinction (Sobresaliente Cum Laude). Since then, I have set up several Assisted Reproduction units, such as the EVA Clinics, where I was National Medical Director.
Now I work in my own clinic and I am a professor in the Assisted Reproduction master’s program at Jaime I University, from where I continue helping many women achieve what, for me, is the most rewarding experience in life: becoming a mother.

Education and training

2016 Healthcare Management Program, Instituto de Empresa
2011 PhD in Medicine and Surgery, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, with the highest distinction (“Sobresaliente cum laude”). Thesis on the immunology of embryo implantation
2007-2009 Attending Specialist Physician, La Paz University Hospital, Madrid
2007 Specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology, rated Excellent, after completing residency at La Paz University Hospital, Madrid. Ranked 338th out of 9,418 candidates who sat the national MIR residency entrance exam
2007 Fertility preservation project in cancer patients, funded by a grant from the Community of Madrid, at the Universitätsklinikum Innsbruck, Austria.
2006 Diploma in Gynecological Endoscopy, University of Clermont-Ferrand
2001 Degree in Medicine and Surgery, Complutense University of Madrid

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Since 2017 Gynecologist specializing in fertility, at her own clinic
2017 Director of the Assisted Reproduction Unit, Vithas Pardo de Aravaca Hospital
2016 Professor, Master’s Degree in Assisted Reproduction, Jaume I University
2016 National Director, Eva Fertility Clinics
2009 Specialist Gynecologist in Reproductive Medicine, GINEFIV
2007 Attending Specialist Physician, La Paz University Hospital, Madrid
2003 Resident, La Paz University Hospital, Madrid

AWARDS AND GRANTS

Comparative proteomic analysis of follicular fluids from patients with different infertility etiologies. Award from the International Congress of Reproductive Immunology, 2010
Soluble MHC Class I related molecule serum and follicular levels as predictive markers for IVF outcomes. Award from the 7th European Congress of Reproductive Immunology, 2009
Valor Predictivo de HLA y MIC embrionarios en resultados de FIV. Funded by the grant “Clinical Research Grants 2008” from the Biomedical Research Foundation of La Paz University Hospital
Preservación de la Fertilidad en la paciente Oncológica. Tello Grant from the Community of Madrid, awarded for carrying out this project at the Universitätsklinik Innsbruck, Austria, 2007

DOCTORAL THESIS

Valor Predictivo de MIC-A y HLA embrionario en la Inmunología de la Implantación.

PUBLICATIONS AND RESEARCH

Santillan I, Jimenez Ayala B. Resistant endometritis protocol in infertile patients based on endometrial bacteria Next Generation System analysis. 2025. Epub
Kuon RJ, Weber M, Santillan I, Heger JI, Vorstein K, Bär C, et al. Uterine Natural Killer Cells in patients with idiopathic recurrent miscarriage. American Journal of Reproductive Immunology. 2017.
Santillán I, Martinez F, Lozano I, Verdu V, Coca S, Bajo Arenas JM. Where and when should natural killer cells be tested in women with repeated implantation failure?
Journal of Reproductive Immunology. April 2015.
Ramos-Medina R, Garcia-Segovia A, Gil J, Carbone J, Agueron de la Cruz A, Seyfforth A, Alonso B, Alonso J, Leon JA, Alecsandru D, Melia E, Carrillo de Albornoz E, Ordoñez D, Santillan I, et al. Experience in IVIg Therapy for Selected Women with Recurrent Reproductive Failure and NK Cell Expansion. American Journal of Reproductive Immunology. 2014. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24612159/
Santillán I, Verdu V. Maca andina y fragmentación del ADN espermático. Journal: Aquilea Medical. 2012; 1: 1, 5.
Santillán I, Verdu V, Bajo Arenas JM. Ovarian Stimulation and Endometrial Receptivity. In: Textbook of Minimal Stimulation IVF: Milder, Mildest or Back to Nature. New Delhi, India: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (Pvt) Ltd.; 2011: 62-68.

PRESENTATIONS AND TEACHING

Papel del PGTA no invasivo en 2023. “60 segundos en Fertilidad”, Organon, 2023.
Congress of the Spanish Society of Reproductive Immunology, Alicante, 2016. Donde y cuando se deben medir las células NK en mujeres con fallo repetido de implantación
When and where should natural killer cells be tested in women with repeated implantation failure? ESRI (European Society for Reproductive Immunology), Budapest, 2014
* Finalist for the Young Investigator Award
Immunology of Implantation
New Horizons in IVF Genetic Diagnosis II, Alicante, 2013 (IVF Spain)
Estudio de las trombofilias en el fracaso de implantación. Conducta práctica. Current Topics in Assisted Reproduction, Madrid, 2013
Nuevos enfoques frente a los abortos de repetición. Reproductive Medicine Update Symposium, 2012, La Paz University Hospital, Madrid
Chair of the Reproductive Immunology session
5th International Symposium on Assisted Reproduction, Madrid, 2012 (Tambre)
Presentation at the Congress of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), Istanbul, 2011. When and where should natural killer cells be tested in women with repeated implantation failure
Is there really an association between cytotoxic Natural Killer cells and implantation failure in both blood and endometrium? 9th European Congress of Reproductive Immunology. Copenhagen, 2011
Factores Inmunológicos en la implantación embrionaria. 2010, 8th Course on Current Topics in Assisted Reproduction, Hotel Ayre Colón, Madrid
Sonografía de la reserva ovárica y monitorización de la respuesta. 2009 Casos prácticos. 24th Annual Symposium on Update in Obstetric and Gynecologic Ultrasound, Mapfre Vida Conference Center, Madrid
Soluble MHC Class I related molecule serum and follicular levels as predictive markers for IVF outcomes.
2008 7th European Congress of Reproductive Immunology, Marathon. Winner of the Young Investigator Award
Predictive value of soluble HLA-G and sMICA in IVF outcomes. EMBIC Workshop on sHLA-G and Implantation
Mansfield College, Oxford, 2008
Métodos diagnósticos en el fracaso de implantación: del estudio NK al ERA.
Current Topics in Assisted Reproduction
Papel de MICAs y HLA-Gs en la inmunología de la implantación embrionaria. 1st Euroforum-Monteprincipe Symposium, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid
Manejo intraparto de la gestación múltiple.
4th Pérez-Piñar Residents’ Symposium
Faculty of Medicine, Autonomous University of Madrid, and La Paz University Hospital. 2006, Madrid
DIU- levonorgestrel como alternativa en el tratamiento de la endometriosis profunda. 5th National Congress of Gynecological Endoscopy, Bilbao, 2006
Craneosinostosis
24th National Congress of the SESEGO (Spanish Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics), Valencia, 2006