Professor Andrea jurisicova on the science behind new beginnings

july 24th, by lavinia ricca

For Professor Andrea Jurisicova, what began as an unexpected introduction to embryology in Europe evolved into a career spanning developmental biology and reproductive medicine, and decades of research dedicated to understanding female fertility. Today, as a Senior Investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute and Professor at the University of Toronto, her work bridges scientific research with clinical questions that have the potential to improve reproductive health for future generations.

Professor Jurisicova's scientific journey began before embryology was even an established profession. While originally interested in animal genetics, a placement in a laboratory studying mouse embryo development coincided with the emergence of some of the first human IVF clinics. Although her expertise handling embryos became invaluable in a clinical setting, the experience ultimately revealed how many questions remained unanswered.

"If we don't understand how normal embryos develop," she explains, "we cannot fix the problem." That realization led her away from the clinic and back into research, eventually bringing her to Canada to complete her master's degree and PhD, ultimately undertaking postdoctoral training at Harvard.

Decades later, her laboratory focuses on female reproductive biology, particularly the molecular mechanisms that determine egg quality and fertility. While infertility is often discussed in public conversations, Jurisicova believes many people underestimate how early reproductive health begins. Egg cells begin developing long before birth, meaning maternal health during pregnancy can influence the fertility of the next generation. Likewise, because human oocytes require close to a year to fully mature, lifestyle changes made only weeks before attempting pregnancy may come too late to influence egg quality.

For the Professor, research serves two important purposes: advancing treatments and improving public understanding. Better education about reproductive biology, she argues, empowers people to make informed decisions long before fertility becomes an immediate concern. At the same time, her lab investigates ways to preserve fertility in patients undergoing chemotherapy and understand age-related declines in egg quality, ultimately aiming to understand the environments in which healthy oocytes develop.

Among the lab's current areas of focus is the relationship between cancer biology and reproductive health. Her team studies BRCA1 and BRCA2 – genes best known for increasing breast and ovarian cancer risk – to understand how different mutations influence oocyte development. While these genes are widely recognized for their role in DNA repair, Professor Jurisicova's research suggests they may also regulate mitochondrial function and cellular metabolism within egg cells. In examining different BRCA mutations individually, the lab hopes to provide more personalized insights into fertility preservation for patients carrying these variants. “All the mutations in BRCA genes are kind of lumped together. It's not really clear whether all of the mutations that we know predispose to, for example, breast cancer or ovarian cancer, or whether they're all equal in terms of detrimental effect on oocytes,” she explains.

Decades into her career, Professor Jurisicova remains deeply connected to experimental science. She still performs laboratory work herself, handling mouse embryos and oocytes alongside her students.

Her greatest reward, she says, is watching students experience discovery firsthand. “To this day, what I find maximally rewarding is if I see a student who lights up with new findings that they themselves generated,” she reflects. “They realize that they have seen, in their own eyes, something that has never been seen before."

That philosophy also shapes the culture of her laboratory. Be it conducting complex experiments or refilling pipette tip boxes, everyone contributes equally. Scientific excellence, she believes, begins with humility and shared responsibility.

Those values extend naturally into mentorship. Rather than encouraging students simply to publish papers, Jurisicova emphasizes scientific rigor above all else. Every conclusion should be supported by significant evidence, and every experiment should be reproducible by another laboratory. In an era where researchers face increasing pressure to publish frequently, she argues that quality, not quantity, is of utmost importance.

That philosophy is closely tied to her view of research as a vocation rather than simply a career. Experiments fail; grant applications are rejected; paper manuscripts are returned with criticism. Most days involve troubleshooting rather than breakthrough discoveries. Yet for someone driven by curiosity, those setbacks become part of the process rather than reasons to quit. “My day is pretty much coming to play in the lab every day. I don't consider it work,” she says. “It’s a really fun thing to do”.

Looking to the future, Professor Jurisicova is especially excited by advances in single-cell sequencing, proteomics, and stem cell research. Such technologies may offer unprecedented insight into how oocytes develop and age. While she sees enormous potential in these fields, she also approaches innovation with caution.

Gene editing, for example, remains an area where she believes scientific capability has not yet caught up with ethical and technical responsibility. “We are not there yet with the tools that we have to really edit human embryos without mistakes,” she explains. “I don't think we [...] should be attempting those kinds of things right now.”

For young women considering careers in science, Professor Jurisicova’s advice is refreshingly straightforward: “Never give up. Just keep trying. Whatever [...] you think you want to accomplish, just need to keep working at it. There may be many hours or days or weeks or years required to achieve that goal, but just keep at it.”