Ira and Ester Rosenwaks New Investigator Award

Robin M. Skory, MD, PhD

Dr. Robin Skory is a physician-scientist and Assistant Professor in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her laboratory uses high-resolution live imaging to investigate the cellular mechanisms underlying oocyte development, fertilization, and early preimplantation embryo development.

Dr. Skory earned her MD and PhD at Northwestern University, where she trained in the laboratory of Dr. Teresa Woodruff and developed three-dimensional follicle culture models to study ovarian aging and follicle rupture. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco, followed by fellowship training at the University of Pennsylvania. As scholar in the Reproductive Scientist Development Program (RSDP), she conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Nicolas Plachta using live imaging to study mouse and human embryos, where her work identified a previously unrecognized nuclear rupture phenomenon with implications for IVF practice.

More recently, her research has characterized the dynamic remodeling and movement of the paternal genome following fertilization and identified a role for the maternal spindle in sperm genome translocation. Her laboratory combines live imaging with follicle culture models to define how communication between somatic cells and the oocyte establishes developmental competence. By defining the mechanisms that govern oocyte quality, her research aims to advance the diagnosis and treatment of infertility.

Previous recipients of the Ira and Ester Rosenwaks New Investigator Award:

2026 Robin M. Skory, MD, PhD
2025 Min Yang, PhD
2024 Jennifer Kawwass, MD
2023 Kate Devine, MD
2022 Audrey J. Gaskins, ScD
2021 Amanda N. Kallen, MD
2020 Ranjith Ramasamy, MD
2019 Samuel Zev Williams, MD, PhD
2018 Michael L. Eisenberg, MD
2017 Helen G. Tempest, PhD
2016 Marla E. Lujan, PhD
2015 Erica E. Marsh, MD
2014 Jorge E. Chavarro, MD, ScD
2013 Nathan R. Treff, PhD
2012 Clarisa R. Gracia, MD, MSCE
2011 Lubna Pal, MBBS, MS
2010 Ayman Al-Hendy, MD, PhD
2009 Emre Seli, MD
2008 William H. Catherino, MD, PhD
2007 Elizabeth A. McGee, MD
2006 Anuja Dokras, MD, PhD