STAR-6 (2025-2026) Course Participants

Pol Arranz-Gibert, Ph.D.

Founding Scientist, Stealth Mode Startup.

Synthetic Biology, Biomaterials, Chemical Biology, Drug Delivery.

Cyrine Ben Dhaou, Ph.D., Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Louisiana State University Health Shreveport.

Endothelial dysfunction in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases; Radiation biology.

Allyson Brady, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Carleton University, Canada.

Astrobiology, Microbial biosignatures, Biotechnology.

Hayley Brawley, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow with USAF 59th MDW Clinical & Operational Space Medicine Innovation Consortium.

Space medicine; bioanalytical chemistry; nutritional biochemistry.

Paul Burke, Ph.D.

Senior Staff Scientist and Engineer, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; Faculty, Johns Hopkins University Department of Mechanical Engineering; JHU/APL Sabbatical Fellow, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and School of Medicine.

Astrobiology, physiological responses to human spaceflight, and reduced-gravity fluid physics.

Ashley Carr, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. Applied spectroscopy, instrument development, microbial motility and biofilm dynamics.

Kristyn Carter, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Dermatology Research Fellow, Department of Dermatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Inflammation, wound healing, and immune cell dysfunction in skin.

Nicholas Chartrain, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor and Research Scientist, 4DBio³ Center for Biotechnology, Uniformed Services University, The Geneva Foundation. 3D Bioprinting and Tissue Engineering.

Vijay Chhetri, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Florida A&M University. Microbial Biofilms, Microbial dynamics, Molecular Biology, Food Safety, Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA).

Banumathi Cole, Ph.D.

Remedy Plan Therapeutics, Professional Title: Director, Biology.

Drug Discovery in Cancer, Metabolic, Autoimmune, and Rare Diseases.

Alison C. Dunn, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida.

Surface mechanics of soft and water-swollen materials, contact mechanics, tribology.

Gabrielle E.W. Giersch, Ph.D.

Research Physiologist, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine.

Thermoregulation, Physiological responses to extreme environments, Adaptation and performance optimization.

Jorge A. González Chapa, M.D., Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Washington, Division of Rheumatology.

Mitochondrial biology, immune metabolic dysfunction, and autoimmune muscle diseases.

Sahar Hasim, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Microbiology, Department of Biological Sciences, Alabama State University.

Medical Mycology, focusing on antifungal drug resistance, Candida auris biofilms, and developing new treatment strategies using nanomaterials.

Sara Hassing Johansen, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center / University of Oslo.

Exercise oncology; Physiological effects of cancer treatment; Cardiorespiratory fitness and Exercise countermeasures.

Erica Heinrich, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine Division of Biomedical Sciences.

Integrative physiology and immune function in extreme environments.

Susan John, Ph.D.

Post-doctoral Fellow, New Iberia Primate Research Center, University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Cellular and Molecular Biology; Plant Physiologist; Pre-Clinical Research.

Lana Kostic, Ph.D.

Research Scientist, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research – A*STAR, Singapore.

Epithelial stem cell biology and oncogenesis.

Marcello Manfredi, Ph.D.

Associate professor of Biochemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, University of Piemonte Orientale, Italy; Institute for Molecular and Translational Cardiology (IMTC), IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, Italy.

Molecular understanding of diseases through multi-omics platforms.

Angela Medvedeva, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Rice University.

Mathematical and statistical modeling of biochemical systems for drug discovery and drug development.

Matteo Moretti, Ph.D.

Adjunct Prof. and Director, Regenerative Medicine Division, Institute for Translational Research, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale – Università della Svizzera Italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland; Head, BIOfabrication and ORganoid 3D culture Biosystems InTegration (BIO-ORBIT) ESA Ground-Based Facility, Bellinzona, Switzerland.

Multiscale Bioreactors and Microphysiological systems; Musculoskeletal, microvascular and brain human 3D tissue models.

Nicholas Nastasi, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Researcher, Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Lab, The Ohio State University.

Environmental microbiology, Health Sciences, and Engineering.

Rinalda Proko, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.

Molecular Cell Biology, Membrane Trafficking, and Exocytosis.

Agata Rudolf , Ph.D.

Research Adjunct, Principal Investigator at Space Biology and Astrobiology Lab, Faculty of Space Technologies, AGH University of Krakow, Poland.

Mitochondria energetics, Aging, Evolutionary biology, Adaptation to spaceflight hazards.

Alexa Sadier, Ph.D.

CNRS Research Group Leader, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM), Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.

Evolutionary developmental biology, mammalian development, genomics.

Emel Sen Kilic, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Aerospace Physiology, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Host-Microbe interactions, Immunology, Microbial pathogenesis, Antibody and therapeutics development.

Amabile Valotta, M.D.

MD and Researcher Cardiocentro Ticino, Lugano, Switzerland and Hopital du Jura, Delémont, Switzerland.

Cardiology, internal medicine and extreme environment medicine.

Lindsay Williams, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, University of Edinburgh.

Molecular plant biology, post-harvest, bioengineering, plant pathology.

Samantha Zambuto, Ph.D., MPHS.

Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Engineering for Women’s Health; Biomaterials; Tissue Engineering; Microphysiological Systems.

Boce Zhang, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Food Microbiology, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Food Microbiology, Food Safety, Multi-Omics, Machine Learning, Biointerface Science, Nanotechnology.