She is a passionate educator, author, podcaster, academic, researcher and public speaker working on empowering women to have good health and happiness.
She started her career as a clinical embryologist and joined University College London (UCL) in 1994.
Her recent work is on reproductive health education including menstruation, fertility, and menopause.
Her current main roles are a blogger and podcast (www.joyceharper.com), chair of the International Reproductive Health Education Collaboration (see below), co-founder of InTune, the UK menopause education and support programme and SwimHer, a research network to examine the effects of cold water swimming on Women's Health.
In 2025 Joyce is running a number of retreats to empower women to lead their best lives and help them find good health and happiness.
She joined the Pharmacology department at King's College London where she completed her PhD in 1987 under the supervision of Professor John Littleton looking at the effects of alcohol on catecholamine release from adrenal chromaffin cells.
[3] Joyce Harper started work in fertility in 1987, initially spending a short time at the Hallam Medical Centre as a clinical embryologist and then moving on to work with Professor Ian Craft at the London Fertility Centre where she became scientific director in charge of the IVF laboratory.
In 1992 she joined Alan Handyside and Robert Winston in the PGD team at the Hammersmith Hospital performing clinical biopsies and FISH diagnosis as well as undertaking research into chromosome abnormalities in human embryos.
More recently her research interests have expanded to include fertility education, IVF add-ons, FemTech and donor conception.
She is invited to give numerous lectures at international conferences, including plenary and key-note speeches.
The Academy developed a certificate in clinical embryology to ensure that embryologist globally have adequate training.
She was a founding member and lead of the joint committee of ESHRE and the European Society of Human Genetics, 2005, 2013, 2016.
Harper was a member of the Board from 2006–2012, was involved in organisation of ISPD conferences and also responsible for setting up special interest groups.
Harper visits a number of schools and gives lectures on careers in science, applying to university, IVF, genetics and all aspects of women's health from the menstrual cycle to the menopause.
She also gives public talks and discussion groups on all aspects of women's health, including Wellbeing Over 40 and Career and Motherhood.
Louise makes visual and multi-sensory site-specific performances, walks and installations that seek to articulate, reflect upon and transform significant life-events.