C

Committee and Staff Biographical Information

COMMITTEE

DAVA J. NEWMAN, Co-Chair, is the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Dr. Newman is also a Harvard-MIT Health, Sciences, and Technology faculty member. Her research expertise is in multidisciplinary aerospace biomedical engineering, investigating human performance across the spectrum of gravity. Dr. Newman is a leader in advanced space suit design, dynamics and control of astronaut motion, leadership development, innovation, and space policy. She was the principal investigator on four experiments that flew on spaceflight missions. Dr. Newman was a co-investigator on the Mental Workload and Performance Experiment (MWPE) that flew to space on STS-42 to measure astronaut mental workload and fine motor control in microgravity. She also developed the MICR0-G spaceflight experiment to provide a novel smart sensor suite and study human adaptation in extreme environments. Dr. Newman is the MIT principal investigator (PI) on the Gravity Loading Countermeasure Suit, or Skinsuit, onboard the International Space Station as an ESA technology demonstration, 2015–2017. Best known for her second-skin BioSuit™ planetary EVA system, her advanced spacesuits inventions are now being applied to “soft suits/exoskeletons” to study and enhance locomotion on Earth. Recent research focuses on Earth systems—namely, ocean through near-space subsystems to accelerate solutions for climate and oceans by curating near-space satellite data to make the world work for 100 percent of humanity. Dr. Newman is the author of Interactive Aerospace Engineering and Design, has published more than 250 papers in journals and refereed conferences, and holds numerous compression technology patents. She previously served as NASA Deputy Administrator, and along with the NASA Administrator was responsible for articulating the agency’s vision, providing leadership and policy direction, and representing NASA to the White House, Congress, international space agencies, and industry. Dr. Newman was the first female engineer and scientist to serve in this role and was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Recent honors include the Lowell Thomas Award, Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow, AIAA Jeffries Aerospace Medicine and Life Sciences Research Award, and Women in Aerospace Leadership Award. Dr. Newman holds a Ph.D. in aerospace biomedical engineering from MIT, an M.S. in aerospace engineering and technology and policy from MIT, and a B.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Her previous National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine service includes membership on the Space Studies Board (SSB), the Aeronautics Space and Engineering Board (ASEB), the Committee on Human Spaceflight Technical Panel, and the Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space: Translation to Space Exploration Systems Panel.

ROBERT J. FERL¹ is a professor at the University of Florida. Dr. Ferl’s research agenda includes analysis of the fundamental biological processes involved in plant adaptations to environments, with an

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¹ Resigned April 12, 2021 to co-chair the Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences Research in Space 2023-2032

emphasis on the particular environments and opportunities presented by the space exploration life sciences. He is an expert in the area of plant gene responses and adaptations to environmental stresses and the signal transduction processes that control environmental responses. The fundamental issues driving his research program include the recognition of environmental stress, the signal-transduction mechanisms that convert the recognition of stress to biochemical activity, and the gene activation that ultimately leads to response and adaptation to environmental stress. Dr. Ferl served as the developer and director of the virtual center for Exploration Life Sciences, a joint academic research and education venture between the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) and the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC). He has served on the National Academies Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space: Plant and Microbial Biology Panel (2009–2011) and as the co-chair of the standing Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space.

MARY L. BOUXSEIN is the director of the Center for Advanced Orthopaedic Studies, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Bouxsein currently holds joint appointments as a professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School and as an adjunct assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Boston University, and she is also a faculty member in the MIT-Bioastronautics Program. Her research focuses on understanding skeletal fragility from a biomechanics viewpoint and includes studies using animal models and human cadaveric tissue, as well as clinical investigations. Dr. Bouxsein also has a strong interest in the use of novel noninvasive imaging techniques to predict fracture risk and monitor response to osteoporosis therapies. She serves on the committee of scientific advisors for the International Osteoporosis Foundation and is a board member of the International Bone and Mineral Society. Dr. Bouxsein received her B.S. in general engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

STEVEN H. COLLICOTT is the associate head for engagement and a professor in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University. His research interests are dominated by low-gravity fluid dynamics experiments and modeling. Dr. Collicott has substantial experiences with microgravity physics experimentation, including a variety of interactions with players in the commercial flight services field. His experiments have flown on the International Space Station, commercial sub-orbital vendors, and commercial parabolic flight, plus he has launch agreements and experiments nearing completion to fly with most commercial sub-orbital companies. Dr. Collicott is an associate fellow of the AIAA. He received a Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University. Dr. Collicott has served as a member of the National Academies standing Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space.

VIJAY K. DHIR is the Distinguished Professor Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Previously, Dr. Dhir served as dean of UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science for over a decade. Prior to that, he was chair of the UCLA Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Dr. Dhir’s research focuses on two-phase heat transfer, boiling and condensation, thermal and hyrodynamic stability, thermal hydraulics of nuclear reactors, microgravity heat transfer, and soil remediation. In addition to his work at UCLA, for the past 30 years Dr. Dhir has been a consultant for numerous organizations, including General Electric Corporation, Rockwell International, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Brookhaven National Laboratory. His work on boiling heat transfer and nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics and safety were the impetus for his being elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Dr. Dhir is also a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Nuclear Society, a recipient of ASME’s Heat Transfer Memorial Award and the Robert Henry Thurston Lecture Award, and the senior technical editor for ASME’s Journal of Heat Transfer. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) honored him with the Donald Q. Kern award and the Max Jakob Memorial Award (awarded jointly with ASME). Dr. Dhir is the recipient of the Technical Achievement Award of the Thermal Hydraulics Division of the American Nuclear Society. Most recently, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at ICCES (the International

Conference on Computational and Experimental Engineering and Sciences). Dr. Dhir has more than 300 publications in archival journals and proceedings of conferences. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Punjab University in India, his M.Tech. in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Dhir has served on the National Academies Committee on Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving Safety and Security of U.S. Nuclear Plants, the ASEB, and the Committee on Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, and the standing Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space.

ALAIN KARMA is a professor of physics, an Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physics, and director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Complex Systems at Northeastern University. Dr. Karma’s primary research lies in theoretical understanding of the emergence of nonequilibrium patterns in nonlinear systems with applications to diverse problems in materials science and biology. In materials science, his research focuses on the development and application of phase-field methods to a wide range of interface dynamics, with projects in microstructural pattern formation in alloys, stress-driven grain boundary motion, semiconductor nanowire growth, and fracture phenomena and crack propagation in brittle materials. In biology, Dr. Karma’s research focuses on understanding basic mechanisms of irregular heart rhythms. He earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

MOHAMMAD KASSEMI is a research professor at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Dr. Kassemi is also the NASA Advanced Research Technology Support (ARTS) project director at CWRU. Prior to this, he was the chief scientist at the National Center for Microgravity Research at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) in Cleveland, Ohio, supporting fluids and combustion science research aboard the International Space Station (ISS). During his 28 years’ tenure at NASA GRC and 18 years at CWRU, Dr. Kassemi has applied his expertise to a diverse set of multidisciplinary research problems in multiphase flow and transport, materials processing, microgravity fluid and thermal management, radiation heat transfer in semitransparent materials, capillary and interfacial phenomena, and microfluidics and physiological flows in biomedicine. He has also been PI on nine fluids and materials NRA awards involving microgravity bubble dynamics, solidification and crystal growth from melt and vapor, and interaction of radiation with natural convection in materials processing. In the past 10 years, Dr. Kassemi has developed integrated multi-scale fluid-structural-interaction models investigating the impact of weightlessness on the performance of human cardiovascular, vestibular, and renal systems in support of the Digital Astronaut and Exploration Medical Capability projects within the NASA Human Research Program. Dr. Kassemi is the recipient of the 2015 NASA Exceptional Public Achievement Award for his contributions on the effects of long-term microgravity on human health and on performance of cryogenic propellant systems and materials processing in space. He earned a B.S. and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Kassemi earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Akron. Dr. Kassemi has previously served as a member of the National Academies’ standing Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space.

DOUGLAS M. MATSON is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Tufts University. Dr. Matson’s research specializes in solidification processes, thermal manufacturing, and microgravity materials science. Previously, he was a lecturer in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the MIT and a PI and lead materials engineer for Aerojet Propulsion Division at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Dr. Matson has served as the president-elect for the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research and PI for two ISS projects. He earned a Ph.D. in materials engineering from MIT, his M.S. in materials science from the University of California, Davis, a B.S. in mechanical engineering from California State University, and a B.S. in chemical engineering from Cornell University.

WAYNE L. NICHOLSON is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Science at the University of Florida, located at the Space Life Sciences Laboratory next to NASA KSC. In his laboratory, Dr. Nicholson studies the changes in cell physiology and transcription caused by the extremes of the space environment. His interests include the mechanisms of bacterial spore resistance and longevity, the survival and proliferation of microorganisms in extreme extraterrestrial environments, and microbial evolution in novel environments, including human space habitats. Dr. Nicholson earned his Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has served as a member of the National Academies’ standing Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space.

JAMES A. PAWELCZYK is an associate professor of physiology and kinesiology at Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Pawelczyk served as a payload specialist on STS-90 Neurolab. During the 16-day Spacelab flight, the seven-person crew aboard NASA space shuttle Columbia served as both experiment subjects and operators for 26 individual life sciences experiments focusing on the effects of microgravity on the brain and nervous system. Dr. Pawelczyk’s primary research interests include the neural control of circulation, particularly skeletal muscle blood flow, as it is affected by exercise or spaceflight. Dr. Pawelczyk is a member of the American Heart Association, the American Physiological Society, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the Society for Neuroscience. He has won numerous awards, including the Young Investigator Award from the Life Sciences Project Division of the NASA Office of Life and Microgravity Science Applications and the NASA Space Flight Medal. He earned a B.A. in both biology and psychology from the University of Rochester, an M.S. in physiology from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), and a Ph.D. in biology (physiology) from the University of North Texas. Dr. Pawelczyk has previously served on many National Academies committees, including as a member of the Committee to Review NASA’s Evidence Reports on Human Health Risks and on the Committee on a Midterm Assessment of Implementation of the Decadal Survey on Life and Physical Sciences Research at NASA. He has also served as a member of the National Academies’ standing Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space.

MARYLYN D. RITCHIE is director of the Center for Translational Bioinformatics at the Institute for Bioinformatics (IBI), associate director for Bioinformatics at IBI, and associate director for the Center for Precision Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, Dr. Ritchie was a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, and the director of the Center for Systems Genomics at Penn State. Before joining Penn State, she was an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, Dr. Ritchie also served as an investigator in the Center for Human Genetics Research, where she directed the Computational Genomics Core and the Program in Computational Genomics. She has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals such as the American Journal of Human Genetics, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Human Molecular Genetics, Bioinformatics, and PLOS Genetics. Dr. Ritchie is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Human Genetics and the American Statistical Association. She has received many honors throughout her career, including the Kavli Fellow from the National Academies and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation fellowship. Dr. Ritchie earned a B.S. in biology from the University of Pittsburg, Johnstown, an M.S. in applied statistics, and a Ph.D. in human genetics from Vanderbilt University. She has served as a member of the National Academies’ standing Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space.

JESSICA SCOTT is an assistant professor at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center. Dr. Scott is also an assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medical College. At MSK, her research is focused on characterizing multisystem toxicity using exercise testing, imaging, biomarker techniques, and the efficacy of exercise training to prevent and reverse toxicity. She joined MSK after 5 years as a senior scientist in the Exercise Physiology and Countermeasures Laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Center, where she also completed her postdoctoral fellowship. Dr. Scott is the recipient of NASA’s Human Research Program Peer Award, NASA’s Innovation Achievement Award for the design and

implementation of a novel ultrasound technique to measure muscle mass during spaceflight, and NASA’s Group Achievement Award as a member of the 1-year mission operations team. She received her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in exercise cardiovascular physiology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

POL D. SPANOS holds the L.B. Ryon Endowed Chair in Engineering at Rice University. Dr. Spanos’s interests are in the area of dynamical systems, with emphasis on probabilistic (risk and reliability), nonlinear, and signal-processing aspects and with applications to aerospace engineering and several other engineering disciplines. His research findings have been disseminated in more than 350 papers in archival journals, technical conferences, and industrial reports. Dr. Spanos is editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics and of the Journal of Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics. He is a Distinguished Member of both the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and ASME. He is a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Association of America, and a corresponding/foreign member of NA/NAE of Hellas, India, Europe, and Russia. Dr. Spanos is a registered professional engineer in Texas. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy, the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, NASA, and by many industrial consortia. He has received several awards from NSF, the ASCE, ASME, and Rice University. He is a member of the NAE and has served, worldwide, as a consultant to many governmental organizations and industrial entities. Dr. Spanos received an M.S. in structural dynamics and a Ph.D. in applied mechanics and with minors in applied mathematics and in business economics from the California Institute of Technology. He has previously served as a member of the National Academies Committee for the Reusable Booster System: Review and Assessment, the Panel on Armor and Armaments, the standing Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, and the Committee on Strategic Long-Term DOD Manufacturing Innovation Institutes.

JANA STOUDEMIRE is the commercial innovation strategy lead at Axiom Space. Previously, Ms. Stoudemire served as the chief commercialization officer at Space Tango, where she led the creation of commercial markets in low Earth orbit (LEO) for biomedical and technology research and manufacturing applications. She identifies biomedical research projects that will fly on future missions to the ISS focused on advancing understanding disease processes and treatments for significant global health burdens including cancer, neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease, along with regenerative medicine initiatives to help end the organ shortage. Before transitioning to the space industry, Ms. Stoudemire worked for over two decades with leading biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies. She has a strong understanding of the needs and challenges faced by companies working within a regulated industry, and experience working in both emerging and established global markets spanning a variety of healthcare indications. Ms. Stoudemire has an in-depth understanding of what drives innovation and establishes new industries from her long history as part of the San Diego biotechnology community and with major pharmaceutical and device companies across the globe. In addition to a strong technical background, she has a career history marked by successful identification of new business opportunities for private and public healthcare companies, along with product development and global commercialization of some of the most innovative healthcare technologies. Prior to joining Space Tango to focus on building emerging markets on orbit to expand the Space economy, Ms. Stoudemire was responsible for life science research in microgravity as part of the team managing the ISS U.S. National Laboratory. She received her B.S. in biology and physics from Wells College, and her M.S. in biology from Harvard University.

JAMES T’IEN is the Leonard Case Jr. Professor of Engineering Emeritus at Case Western Reserve University in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Dr. T’ien’s research interests are in the areas of combustion, propulsion, fire research, and chemically reacting flows. He has received numerous awards, including a Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Fellowship in Jet Propulsion, the Public Service Medal from NASA, and the Space Processing Award from the AIAA. In addition, he is a fellow

of the Combustion Institute and an Honorable Member of the Combustion Institute’s Chinese Taipei Section. Dr. T’ien earned his Ph.D. in aerospace and mechanical sciences from Princeton University. He served as a member of the Applied Physical Sciences Panel of the 2011 Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, the National Academies Committee to Identify Innovative Research Needs to Foster Improved Fire Safety in the United States, the Committee on a Midterm Assessment of Implementation of the Decadal Survey on Life and Physical Sciences Research at NASA, and the standing Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space.

KRYSTYN J. VAN VLIET² is the Koerner Professor of materials science and engineering and biological engineering at MIT. Dr. Van Vliet’s research focuses on material chemomechanics: the material behavior at the interface of mechanics, chemistry, physics, and biology, and in particular, thermodynamically metastable surfaces and interfaces. Dr. Van Vliet joined the faculty of the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) in 2004, and leads the Laboratory for Material Chemomechanics. She also serves MIT as associate provost, overseeing campus space management, technology licensing, and corporate relations. Dr. Van Vliet directed the DMSE Nanomechanical Technology Laboratory, a multiuser research facility that includes the training of student and staff researchers with approximately 60 new users each year, and co-directs the MIT Biomedical Engineering Minor Program. Dr. Van Vliet also conducts research in Singapore, where her interdisciplinary team invents and develops new technology platforms for diagnostics and treatment of cell and tissue disease, as well as cell therapy manufacturing solutions.

DAVID A. WEITZ is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University in the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science. Dr. Weitz is also the director of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, the co-director of the BASF Advanced Research Initiative, a core faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and a member of the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology. At Harvard University, Dr. Weitz’s research interests are the physics of soft condensed matter, specifically their structural and mechanical properties, the properties of colloidal suspensions, the mechanical properties of biomaterials, and microfluidics for making emulsions using multiphase flow. He also works closely with industry, having served on the board of directors for several start-ups, including microfluidics-driven start-ups GnuBIO and Raindance. Dr. Weitz is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the NAE, and he has served as associate editor and member on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. editorial board, was a member of the National Academies Panel on Review of the Physical Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and was a chair on the Condensed Matter and Materials Research Committee. Dr. Weitz has served as a member of the National Academies’ standing Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space. Dr. Weitz earned his B.Sc. with honors in physics in 1973 from the University of Waterloo; his A.M. in physics in 1975 from Harvard University; and his Ph.D. in physics also from Harvard University.

RAPPORTEUR

ROBERT POOL is a science writer and author based in Tallahassee, Florida. As a frequent contributor to publications by the National Academies, Dr. Pool has served as a rapporteur for nearly two dozen National Academies workshops, whose subject matter has included various technologies, defense issues, and the environment. He is the author of Beyond Engineering, a book about the intersection between society and technology that is still in print 25 years after its initial publication. He received both his B.A. in physics, mathematics, and history and his Ph.D. in mathematics from Rice University.

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² Resigned April 9, 2021 to co-chair the Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences Research in Space 2023-2032.

STAFF

SANDRA J. GRAHAM, Study Director, has served as a senior program officer at the SSB since 1994. During that time, Dr. Graham has directed a large number of major studies, many of them focused on space research in biological and physical sciences and technology, including the comprehensive 2011 decadal survey, Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration—Life and Microgravity Sciences Research for a New Era. High-profile studies in other areas have included an assessment of servicing options for the Hubble Space Telescope, a study of the societal impacts of severe space weather, and the Pathways to Exploration report reviewing the U.S. human space program. Prior to joining the SSB, Dr. Graham held the position of senior scientist at the Bionetics Corporation, where she provided technical and science management support for NASA’s Microgravity Science and Applications Division. Dr. Graham’s honors include the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Distinguished Service Award, the NRC Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences Exceptional Achievement Award, and the Orr-Reynolds Distinguished Service Award from the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research. She is a member of the American Chemical Society and the Project Management Institute. Dr. Graham received her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Duke University, where her research focused on rate modeling and reaction chemistry for biological metal complexes and their analogs.

SARA CRANDALL is an associate program officer with the SSB. Prior to this role, Dr. Crandall was a Ph.D. researcher in astronomy and astrophysics. She explored the physical parameters of sun-like stars to better understand the context of the Milky Way’s formation history and evolution. Outside her research, she advocated for a family-friendly campus, and produced the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Students as Parents resource website to support students who are raising children. In 2019, Dr. Crandall was a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the Space Studies Board. During her fellowship tenure, she provided recommendations on inclusive work environments for scientists. Dr. Crandall received her Ph.D. and M.S. in astrophysics and astronomy from UCSC and her M.S. and B.S. in physics from Kansas State University.

DIONNA WISE is a program coordinator with the SSB, having previously worked for the National Academies Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education for 5 years. Ms. Wise has a long career in office administration, having worked as a supervisor in a number of capacities and fields. Ms. Wise attended the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and majored in psychology.