Maria Gracia Gervasi

Assistant Professor

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About

Dr. Gervasi obtained her PhD in 2013 from the University of Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires, Argentina) where she conducted research in sperm capacitation and the interaction of sperm with the epithelium of the oviduct using a bovine model. She then performed six years of postdoctoral training at the University of Massachusetts (UMass-Amherst, USA) working on mouse sperm maturation and capacitation. She is a two-time recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship from the Lalor Foundation. After her postdoctoral training, Dr. Gervasi became Research Assistant Professor at UMass-Amherst where she studied the role of sperm on early embryo development. In addition, between 2021 and 2023 Dr. Gervasi worked as Assistant Professor at the Bedford Research Foundation (Bedford, MA) where she investigated human oocyte parthenogenetic activation for the development of human parthenogenetic stem cells. More recently, she worked on the development of sperm treatments and the potential for improvement of assisted reproductive technologies in cattle. 

Education

• PhD, University of Buenos Aires, School of Sciences, Argentina, 2013
• MS in Molecular Biology, University of Buenos Aires, School of Sciences, Argentina, 2007
• BS in Biology, University of Buenos Aires, School of Sciences, Argentina, 2007

Academics

Courses Taught

• ANSC 2699. Independent Study
• ANSC 3122. Reproductive Physiology
• ANSC 4697W. Undergraduate Honors Thesis Writing in Animal Science
• ANSC 5692. Research
• ANSC 5699. Independent Study

In the News

• New Treatment Improves Bovine IVF – UConn Today, February 2025
• CAHNR Welcomes New Faculty Members for Fall 2023 – UConn Today, August 2023

Research Interests

• Sperm capacitation
• Pre-implantation embryo development
• Contribution of sperm to early embryo development
• Assisted reproductive technologies
• Embryonic stem cells

Hobbies/Non-Academic Interests

• Kung fu
• Traveling
• Cooking: Argentinian empanadas are my specialty!