Dr. Nel-Themaat graduated with her B.Sc. degree from Stellenbosch University in South Africa and a Ph.D. in assisted reproduction from Louisiana State University. As a graduate student working with a team of world-renowned scientists at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, her research focused on assisted reproductive technologies in endangered species.
Upon completion of her doctorate, she did a postdoctoral fellowship at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, studying reproductive development in post implantation embryos. She generated a transgenic mouse line that that expressed multiple fluorescent proteins in the testes, which allows visualization of individual cells during live imaging experiments. She also served as an adjunct professor in Biology for St. Thomas University and an ambassador for MD Anderson as part of the Postdoctoral Association Steering Committee. Research conducted during her graduate and postgraduate training lead to numerous publications in high impact journals, including two cover publications and additional commentaries.
She relocated to Atlanta, GA in 2010 to work as a clinical embryologist at Reproductive Biology Associates under the supervision of Dr. Peter Nagy. While in Atlanta she also collaborated with the Atlanta zoo, working on assisted reproduction in orangutans.
Dr. Nel-Themaat moved to Denver and joined Colorado Reproductive Endocrinology (CRE) in 2011 as a clinical embryologist and has since been involved in all aspects of the IVF lab. She is also involved in research in Dr. Jonathan Van Blerkom’s lab at UC Boulder. She currently serves as a committee member of the ASRM Society for Reproductive Biologists and Technologists organization’s research committee, is the founder and president of the Colorado Association of Reproductive Technologists (CART) and is the coordinator of Embryology Insights, an initiative of the American College of Embryology.