- The Academy elects up to ten international members each year from across medicine and health.
The US National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has announced the election of Carlos Simon as an international member. A physician and researcher, he is President of the Carlos Simon Foundation, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Valencia, and Coordinator of the Reproductive Medicine Research Area at the INCLIVA Health Research Institute.
NAM highlights his contributions to basic and translational research in maternal, infant, and reproductive medicine. Specifically, it recognizes his work linking decidualization resistance, which affects how the endometrium prepares for pregnancy, with implantation disorders and the use of circulating cell-free RNA for the early prediction of severe, preterm preeclampsia.
What NAM membership involves
New members are elected by current Academy members in recognition of their contributions to the medical sciences, health care, and public health.
NAM elects up to 90 US members and ten international members annually. Members contribute to the work of the National Academies by serving on advisory bodies, committees, and working groups.
Understanding how pregnancy begins
Carlos Simon’s research has focused on communication between the embryo and the endometrium, the tissue lining the uterus where embryo implantation takes place. His work seeks to understand which factors allow pregnancy to become established and why this process can fail.
Together with his teams and collaborators, he has helped characterize molecular and cellular changes in the endometrium and study their relationship with implantation and pregnancy complications. This includes research on preeclampsia, with studies identifying alterations in the endometrium’s preparation for pregnancy and exploring their potential role in the development of this complication.
He has also studied the endometrial microbiome and the tissue’s regenerative capacity. In the latter field, he has led clinical research involving cell therapies for women with endometrial conditions, including Asherman syndrome, which is characterized by scar tissue forming inside the uterus.
Research from Valencia and international collaboration
“My work as a physician has led me to investigate questions that arise in clinical practice and for which we still need better answers. One is why one embryo implants and another does not, and what role the endometrium plays in that process. This recognition also belongs to the teams and collaborators I have worked with throughout my career. From Valencia, we have built international collaborations that have been essential to advancing this research,” says Carlos Simon.
At the Carlos Simon Foundation, he provides scientific leadership for projects in reproductive health and women’s health that bring together professionals in biology, medicine, bioengineering, and data analysis.
This work combines basic and clinical research with projects aimed at translating scientific knowledge into new diagnostic and therapeutic tools.
Read NAM’s official announcement and view the full list of newly elected members