About me – a few personal words


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 a scientific 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 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 stem cells 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 understand basics of their fertility: egg quality, ovarian reserve & Co.

So I started writing about what I understand well – hormones and cells, and giving it to women interested in improving quality of their eggs to conceive faster, either naturally or via IVF.

Paleo-Mama: All About Egg Health is my main blog. 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 an ebook: 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 contact me as described here.