I’ve had a long interest in medical topics related to human reproduction and believe that our fertility makes sense only if put in the perspective of human evolution.

My name Darja Wagner. I grew up in Sarajevo, Bosnia. As a teenager, I spent a summer in a science camp. There, I got infected with the idea of becoming investigator and never recovered since.

One year I spent in the USA as an exchange student. I studied molecular biology and physiology at the University of Belgrade in Serbia and graduated in 1998. In the University Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany, I did a Ph.D. thesis about the role of vitamin D receptors in pathogenesis of one severe type of leukemia. My fascination with vitamins, hormones and growth factors has lasted ever since.

I love to know how cells work and wish everybody would want to understand cells, too.

At the Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, I worked for five years on understanding how vitamin D and stress hormones signal in human psychiatric disorders. After this, I moved to Berlin to continue on the interplay of vitamin D and various growth factors in regeneration processes. The last several years I spent teaching and researching at the Biochemistry Department of Berlin Free University.

Then my two sons arrived and a whole new life began.

During the time I was pregnant with my first one, it occured to me how little women know about their fertility. So I started writing about what I understand well (stem cell biology) and giving it to those who needed that information (women of 35 or more who were interested in improving quality of their eggs to get pregnant, either naturally or via IVF).

Paleo-Mama: All About Egg Health is my main blog. It runs in English and German and here I address fertility and getting pregnant for women of advanced reproductive age. There is also another, smaller blog that I have: Improving Egg Quality; it runs only in English and is much more loaded with hard science.

I live in Berlin with my husband and two sons.

In 2014 I’ve written a book: How to Improve Egg Quality: The Smart Way to Get Pregnant which became #1 in the category Reproductive Medicine on Amazon.

I continue to write, give talks, and collaborate with individuals and organizations interested in different aspects of fertility and extending reproductive lifespan of women >35.

Please note that I am not entitled to give medical advice on treatments and disorders. However, feel free to send me your feedback, including suggestions, papers or links at: darja.wagner@googlemail.com

If you wish to contact me directly or need an advice on your fertility journey, please continue reading here.