Aafke van Montfoort is a senior research fellow at the Center of Reproductive Medicine of the Maastricht University Medical Center. She obtained her master’s degree in Health Sciences with Biological Health Sciences as the main topic in 2001. During her PhD she focussed on the prevention of twin pregnancies in IVF treatment by single embryo transfer and by the identification of morphological criteria and biological markers that indicate a good quality embryo.

Aafke van Montfoort’s current research interests are the effects of a suboptimal embryonic environment on the health of the resulting progeny. Her research mainly focuses on the effects of IVF culture media and oxygen levels during culture on phenotypic outcomes in the newborns and further in life. In an attempt to understand the aetiology behind the relation between early life environment and later health effects, she focuses on programming effects in preimplantation embryos and later in life.