Members of the Center for Aerospace Physiology in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Case Western Reserve University recently met with their colleagues at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Their objective was to discuss ongoing collaborative research and educational initiatives, including new CWRU courses focused on aerospace physiology, to be offered in the fall of 2023.
Faculty members Dr. Decker and Dr. Damato have been funded through the United States Air Force since 2014. Their experience with understanding human physiological responses to extreme environmental conditions led to appointments with the United States Air Force, the Navy Medical Research Unit-Dayton, and NATO Science and Technology team. They are among the very few civilian university professors who fly in USAF planes for scientific purposes.
The unique integration between faculty from the Center for Aerospace Physiology and USAF Aerospace Physiologists has identified the need to develop courses to prepare students to pursue opportunities within the aerospace industry. Rapidly emerging programs are enabling humans to travel to suborbital locations, the International Space Station, and soon, the “Artemis” Moon base, Mars and beyond.
Sponsors of those projects range from government agencies such as NASA, U.S. Space Force, Air Force, Navy and Marines to civilian agencies including the FAA and the European Space agency, Virgin Galactic, Space-X and others. Those agencies are hampered by an absence of scientists, physicians, educators and physiologists with training and expertise in aerospace physiology. Newly developed and approved courses to be offered by CWRU’s Department of Physiology and Biophysics are designed to address that burgeoning need.
Those interested in enrolling in the courses should contact Dr. Tom Nosek at tmn2@case.edu. Those interested in research opportunities in the Center for Aerospace Physiology should contact Dr. Michael Decker mjd6@case.edu.