Giuseppe Intini is a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine. In addition to his primary appointment at the School of Dental Medicine, Dr Intini is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology) at the Medical School and a member of the Hillman Cancer Center. He is a co-director of the Pittsburgh Center for Interdisciplinary Bone and Mineral Research. Dr. Intini studies bone biology and bone cancer biology. His research is funded by the NIH, CASIS/NASA, and by other entities, including the Pittsburgh Cure Sarcoma foundation and the Osteosarcoma Institute. Dr. Intini’s research in the field of Space Medicine focuses on the effects that microgravity has on skeletal stem cells and on bone homeostasis.

Dr. Kristin Kopperud is an aerospace industry veteran with experience in operations project management and expertise in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine experiments in microgravity. Her previous position at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS), which manages the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory, as Science Program Director of Biological Sciences in the Research and Innovation department included focus areas in biomanufacturing, in-space production applications, and rodent research. Dr. Kopperud received BS degrees in Biotechnology and Biology from the University of Kentucky. She earned her PhD in Biological Sciences from Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL studying circadian rhythms in the Atlantic tarpon. While she moved to Florida to pursue a career in marine biology, she was captivated by the space culture that was inescapable on the Space Coast. During graduate school, she taught undergraduate laboratory sections of Mammalian Physiology and Biology and was recruited to serve as a Research Support Scientist for several ISS National Lab-sponsored Rodent Research missions, serving as a surrogate for the crew on the ISS.

Liz Warren, Ph.D. is the International Space Station Deputy Chief Scientist. She has a wealth of experience from over 25 years of spaceflight research involvement, including space shuttle missions, the Mir space station, and ISS. Liz was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and attended the University of California at Davis for both her undergraduate and doctorate degrees in physiology. For her doctoral work, she investigated the effects of gravity as a continuum on energy balance in rats. She completed post-doctoral work in cancer biology at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Laboratory of Cell Growth and in the Neuroscience Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Liz most recently served as KBR’s Chief Scientist for NASA’s Human Health and Performance contract. Prior to that, Liz was the Director of Research Development for Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef commercial space station. She has also served at the ISS National Lab and in NASA’s Mission Control Center.
Liz is a passionate science communicator and advocate for STEM.

Director and CTO of Space Bio Laboratories (SBL)
Director of Ube MCC Space Regenerative Medicine Center
Expert Supporter of Nakanoshima Qross, a general incorporated foundation
Professor E Hiroshima University (Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences)
1999: Hiroshima University Graduate School of Medicine, 2000 PhD (Doctor of Medicine)
005: Professor at the Hiroshima University
Director, CTO, Space Bio-Laboratories Co., Ltd., a university-launched venture company
2009: University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Visiting Professor
2015: NASA Kennedy Space Center advisory committee members, Director of Space Regenerative Medicine Center, Hiroshima University
2018: President of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine and Rehabilitation
2023: Professor E, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University Visiting Professor at Ken Walker International University

Dr. Coathup is a Professor of Medicine at the Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida. She is also Lead of the Biionix (Bionic Implants, Materials, & Interfaces) Cluster and a member of the Florida Space Institute, and Stephen W. Hawking Center for Microgravity Research and Education. Dr. Coathup obtained her PhD from University College London (UCL), UK, and later became Head of the Center for Tissue and Cell Research and Women in Science lead at UCL. In 2023, Dr. Coathup was inducted as a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Coathup’s research is focused on interdisciplinary-based innovation with the view of applying scientific discovery to improve the treatment and care of people. Her research focuses on developing novel antibacterial products, as well as advancing biomaterials, and small molecule therapeutics that boost bone repair when under challenging and complex physiological conditions. This includes aging, infection, ionizing radiation-induced injury, and bone health when in space.

Michael S. Roberts, PhD is the Chief Scientific Officer of the ISS National Laboratory, managed by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS). Before joining CASIS, Michael worked as a principal investigator and research group lead in the NASA Advanced Life Support program at the Kennedy Space Center. Prior to arriving at NASA -KSC in 1999, Michael completed an undergraduate degree in biology at Maryville College, a doctorate in microbiology at Wesleyan University and post-doctoral research at the Center for Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University and the RIKEN Institute in Wako-shi, Japan.

Ngan F. Huang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University. Dr. Huang completed her BS in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by a PhD in bioengineering from the University of California Berkeley & University of California San Francisco Joint Program in Bioengineering. Prior to joining the faculty, she was a postdoctoral scholar in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford University. Her laboratory investigates the interactions between stem cells and extracellular matrix microenvironment for engineering cardiovascular tissues to treat cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases. Recent research focuses on the role of microgravity for drug screening of engineered muscle tissue for reversing aging and atrophy. Dr. Huang has authored over 100 publications and patents, including those in Nat Med, PNAS, and Circ Res. She has received numerous honors, most recently including the Society for Biomaterials Mid-Career Award, the Alan Hirsch Mid-Career Award in Vascular Medicine from the American Heart Association, and the inaugural Elena Aikawa Trailblazer award from the International Society for Applied Cardiovascular Biology. She has been inducted as a fellow of the American Heart Association as well as the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She has active or completed projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, American Heart Association Department of Defense, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, and Department of Veteran Affairs.

Professor Volker Hessel studied chemistry at Mainz University/D. 1994: Institut für Mikrotechnik Mainz/Germany (Director R&D); 2005: Professor Eindhoven University of Technology/NL; 2018: Deputy Dean (Research), Professor University of Adelaide, Australia; 2019: part-time professor University of Warwick/UK.

He is author of 678 peer-reviewed publications (h-index: 90; >37,000 citations). He received the AIChE Excellence in Process Development Research Award, IUPAC ThalesNano Prize in Flow Chemistry. He is program lead in the ARC Centre of Excellence Plants for Space (P4S), and is Research Director of the Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources. He received several EU’s research excellence grants (ERC Advanced/Proof of Concept/Synergy, FET OPEN). He is a member on the College of Experts for the National Research Foundation (NRF) within the Prime Minister’s Office."