Sarah Martins Da Silva
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
AwardsThe BBC 100 Women of 2019[1]
Scientific career
FieldsFertility
Reproductive medicine
InstitutionsUniversity of Dundee
Ninewells Hospital
Websitewww.dundee.ac.uk/people/sarah-martins-da-silva

Sarah Martins da Silva FRCOG is a British gynaecologist and researcher specialising in male infertility. Martins da Silva is a Clinical Reader in reproductive medicine at the University of Dundee. She also works as an honorary consultant gynaecologist at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, specialising in fertility problems and assisted conception.[2] She was named one of the BBC's "100 Women of 2019" for her contribution to fertility science.[1]

Early life and education

Martins da Silva was born and raised near Cambridge, England.[3] Her father was an engineer and her mother was engaged in charity work.[3] From a young age, she aspired to become a doctor and scientist.[3]

Martins da Silva attended the Perse School for Girls in Cambridge from 1978 to 1990.[4] In 1995, she received a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) from the University of Edinburgh Medical School. In 2001, Martins da Silva qualified with a Diploma of the Faculty of Family Planning (DFFP) from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare.[5] In 2007, Martins da Silva received an M.D. from University of Edinburgh Medical School where her residency was in obstetrics and gynaecology. Martins da Silva's doctoral thesis was titled "Activin and Neurotrophin Regulation of Human Follicular Development and Bovine Oocyte Maturation" and investigated egg cell maturation and the development of the ovaries.[6] Her advisor was Richard Anderson.[7] In 2008 she qualified with a Diploma in Obstetric Ultrasound from Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists / Royal College of Radiologists and also received her MRCOG there.[5] Martins da Silva was awarded FRCOG in 2021.

Career

From 2000 to 2004, Martins da Silva was a clinical lecturer at the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh School of Medicine. From 2004 to 2011, she worked as a specialist registrar in the obstetrics and gynaecology division of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh within NHS Lothian.

From 2011 to 2013, Martins da Silva was a Scottish Clinical Research Excellence Development Scheme (SCREDS) Clinical Lecturer in reproductive medicine at the University of Dundee School of Medicine. From 2013 to 2019, Martins da Silva was a consultant gynaecologist and honorary senior lecturer at Ninewells Hospital at NHS Tayside in Dundee, Scotland.

In 2021, Martins da Silva became Clinical Reader in reproductive medicine and an honorary Consultant Gynaecologist at the University of Dundee School of Medicine.

In addition to her research in sperm count and function, Martins da Silva is a consultant gynecologist and fertility specialist, including in the area of freezing eggs.[8]

In 2019, Martins da Silva featured in a BBC documentary on fertility issues and IVF.[9] She delivered a speech highlighting the problem of decreasing sperm counts at the BBC 100 Women event in Delhi, India.[10]

Research

Martins da Silva leads a research group on male infertility, sperm biology and drug discovery.[11] She is the lead on a UK-wide research clinic on sperm studies for couples affected by unexplained infertility post-IVF treatment.[2] Da Silva has published scientific papers predominantly focussing on human fertility.[5]

Martins da Silva's work on male infertility was motivated by the unexplained decrease in male fertility in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.[10] During her work as a consultant gynaecologist specialising in fertility problems and assisted conception, she noticed that treatment options for male fertility were limited, instead requiring the female partner to undergo invasive fertility treatments such as in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection that did not directly address the problem of low male fertility.[12] Martins da Silva's research investigates the functionality of sperm cells, particularly the sperm-specific calcium channel CatSper, and how modern lifestyle choices may affect sperm function.[13][14] She is working on developing drugs to enhance sperm count and function, for which she has won funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[15][16] Martins da Silva helped create a high-throughput system for screening many potential drugs, an approach which led to the discovery of two compounds that were able to enhance sperm motility in laboratory tests.[17]

Personal life

Martins da Silva married fellow medic Mauricio Martins da Silva in 2000. They met while studying at the University of Edinburgh.[3] They have three children.

Membership

Honors

Selected works and publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 "BBC 100 Women 2019: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Our Team: Assisted Conception Unit Dundee Ninewells". www.acudundee.org. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Sperm Counts Have Dropped 50 Percent. Can She Find a Fix?". OZY. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. ↑ "Alumna named on the BBC's '100 Women 2019'prestigious list". Stephen Perse Foundation. 18 October 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 ORCID. "Sarah Martins Da Silva (0000-0003-2579-4866)". orcid.org. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  6. ↑ De Sousa, P.a.; Martins Da Silva, S.j.; Anderson, R.a. (1 December 2004). "Neurotrophin Signaling in Oocyte Survival and Developmental Competence: A Paradigm for Cellular Toti-Potency". Cloning and Stem Cells. 6 (4): 375–385. doi:10.1089/clo.2004.6.375. ISSN 1536-2302. PMID 15671666.
  7. ↑ Martins Da Silva, Sarah Justine (2007). Activin and Neurotrophin Regulation of Human Follicular Development and Bovine Oocyte Maturation (PhD). University of Edinburgh. hdl:1842/24911. OCLC 1065314574.
  8. ↑ Kirkby, Rhiane (September 2017). "Buying Time: More Women are Relying on Egg Freezing to Preserve their Fertility, But How Effective is it Really?". Baby London. p. 96.
  9. ↑ "BBC Scotland - Making Babies". BBC. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  10. 1 2 Ogston, Graeme (29 October 2019). "The doctor trying to solve male infertility". BBC News. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "Sarah Martins Da Silva". Discovery - the University of Dundee Research Portal. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  12. ↑ Sturgis, India (27 January 2018). "Spermageddon: Why the human race could be infertile in 50 years". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  13. ↑ Williams, Hannah L.; Mansell, Steven; Alasmari, Wardah; Brown, Sean G.; Wilson, Stuart M.; Sutton, Keith A.; Miller, Melissa R.; Lishko, Polina V.; Barratt, Christopher L.R.; Publicover, Steven J.; Martins Da Silva, Sarah (8 October 2015). "Specific loss of CatSper function is sufficient to compromise fertilizing capacity of human spermatozoa". Human Reproduction. 30 (12): 2737–46. doi:10.1093/HUMREP/DEV243. PMC 4643530. PMID 26453676. Wikidata ()
  14. ↑ Brown, Sean G.; Costello, Sarah; Kelly, Mark C.; Ramalingam, Mythili; Drew, Ellen; Publicover, Stephen J.; Barratt, Christopher L.R.; Da Silva, Sarah Martins (1 October 2017). "Complex CatSper-dependent and independent [Ca2+]i signalling in human spermatozoa induced by follicular fluid". Human Reproduction. 32 (10): 1995–2006. doi:10.1093/humrep/dex269. ISSN 0268-1161. PMC 5850303. PMID 28938737.
  15. ↑ "Male Contraceptive Drug Development Using a Novel Human Sperm Phenotypic Screening Platform (Grand Challenges Phase II)". Discovery - the University of Dundee Research Portal. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "Novel Phenotypic Drug Discovery for Contraception". Discovery - the University of Dundee Research Portal. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  17. ↑ Martins Da Silva, Sarah J.; Brown, Sean G.; Sutton, Keith; King, Louise V.; Ruso, Halil; Gray, David W.; Wyatt, Paul G.; Kelly, Mark C.; Barratt, Christopher L.R.; Hope, Anthony G. (May 2017). "Drug discovery for male subfertility using high-throughput screening: a new approach to an unsolved problem". Human Reproduction. 32 (5): 974–984. doi:10.1093/HUMREP/DEX055. PMC 5850465. PMID 28333338. Wikidata ()
  18. ↑ "Meet the finalists from 2019's Scotswoman of the Year". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
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