Antonio La Marca

Antonio La Marca is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences of the Mother, Children and Adults of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. He was awarded his MD in 1996 by the University of Siena, Italy, specialized in obstetrics and gynecology in 2001, and gained a PhD in Biology of Germ Cells in 2004.
He is the Director of the Residency school in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at the Policlinico Universitario of Modena
His clinical activity covers all fields of reproductive medicine, gynecology and obstetrics and he has taken part in thousands of laparoscopic and hysteroscopic surgical procedures. In particular, in the field of reproductive medicine, he is considered an international key opinion leader because of his broad clinical and scientific experience.
He has taken part in many advisory boards and national and international special interest groups for the elaboration of clinical guidelines for the diagnostic work up of infertile couples as well as their treatment. Of note he was one of the leading authors for the ESHRE definition of poor response (the article has been cited more than 1,000 times to date) and the ESHRE guidelines for ovarian stimulation.
Professor La Marca’s research interests include ovarian reserve and endocrinology, pharmacological manipulation of ovarian activity, including the prediction of ovarian response in IVF, the personalization of ovarian stimulation protocols, the physiological significance of anti-Müllerian hormone and antral follicle count (including their measurement and clinical utility), and conventional and alternative strategies for ovarian stimulation. He has published extensively in these fields, being recognized as author or co-author of more than 277 peer-reviewed articles (by Scopus) and of note he is the first Author in about 35% of the articles, and is currently principal investigator in several phase 3 and 4 trials and recipient of several competitively assigned national and international grants; his current h -index is 58, with more than 14000 citations (Scopus). The preclinical and clinical research led to 6 patents of which La Marca is the inventor (three patent applications and three already issued).
In addition to his clinical and research activities, Professor La Marca is a much-requested lecturer (presenting about thirty invited lectures annually), an active member of several national and international professional and scientific societies, and has been consultant for Italian Ministry of Health for infertility-related issues.
He is Section Editor of the journal Reproductive Biomedicine Online, Frontiers of Endocrinology, Gynecological Endocrinology and Editor-in-Chief of Minerva Obstetrics and Gynecology
Prof La Marca is involved as Principal Investigator (PI) in ministerial research programs awarded on a competitive basis and he is PI of several Investigator Initiated Studies (IISs). He participates or has participated in numerous national or international multicenter research projects and there are at least thirty different groups with whom he has collaborated or still collaborates. He has been called to be part of several international commissions for the evaluation of research projects of European countries and for the academic progression of university professors.