Abigail (Abby) Harrison is the Lead of Research for Starlab and the Voyager Institute for Space, Technology, and Advancement (VISTA) teams at The Ohio State University (OSU). Concurrent with this position, Abby is pursuing a PhD in Biophysics at OSU where she studies reactivation of human pathogenic viruses under the stress conditions of a spaceflight environment. Previously, Abby was a Graduate Research Fellow at Queen’s University studying Arctic region biogeochemistry in the Facility for Biogeochemical Research on Environmental Change and the Cryosphere (FaBRECC) lab. In addition, Abby has conducted immunology/neuroscience research at Harvard Medical School, astrobiology research at the Space Life Sciences Labs, machine learning research at Wellesley College, and limnology research at the Baikal International Centre for Ecological Research. Abby has had a passion for space exploration her entire life and is working towards becoming a NASA astronaut. At 15 years old, Abby served as the Earth Liaison for European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, helping to share his experiences living and working in space with people on Earth. She then went on to found and lead The Mars Generation non-profit for 7 years. Under her leadership, this organization reached tens of millions of people with digital science content, engaged more than 2,000 students in a student leadership development program, secured hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide hands-on STEM experiences for young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and aided teachers around the world in developing and delivering space and science curriculum in grade school classrooms. In 2019, Abby was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for her innovative education advocacy work with The Mars Generation. Abby is the author of Dream Big: How to Reach for Your Stars, a book that guides young people in developing the skills necessary to achieve their dreams. Recently Abby was a member of the teaching team for the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, where she mentored undergraduate students in designing research to fly on the International Space Station. Abby is a prolific public speaker and staunch advocate for the future of space exploration and STEM education. She has delivered hundreds of presentations on these subjects, ranging from grade school audiences to the US House of Representatives. In 2024, Abby received the prestigious commercial space industry Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship and worked as an engineering intern at the commercial space company Voyager Technologies, during which she contributed to testing the Sierra Space Dream Chaser spaceplane, improving laser communications systems for the International Space Station, and the development of the Starlab commercial space station.

Abby has trained as a pilot, Rescue SCUBA Diver, and Emergency Medical Technician and is always searching for her next adventure. Abby has studied Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and Spanish and is passionate about all types of collaboration in the space industry, including international and private/public sectors. In her free time she creates educational videos and content on social media to excite more people about space and science. You can join Abby on her journey to become an astronaut by following her at @astronautabbyofficial.

Dr. Armin Rad is the co-founder and CEO of Encapsulate, a biotech startup pioneering biochip technologies to personalize cancer treatment. With a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Connecticut, over 30 publications, 6 patents, and raising over $10M for Encapsulate, his work bridges microgravity, precision oncology, nanomedicine and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Arun Sharma, PhD is a stem cell biologist focusing on cardiovascular biology and space biosciences. He is an associate professor at Cedars-Sinai and is affiliated with the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, the Smidt Heart Institute, the Cancer Institute, and the Department of Biomedical Sciences. He is the director of the Center for Space Medicine Research, and the director of the CIRM Shared Resources Laboratory at Cedars-Sinai.

Research in the Sharma laboratory focuses on the applications of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) for modeling cardiovascular diseases outside of the body (in-vitro). The lab utilizes cutting-edge technologies including hiPSCs, genome editing, cardiac organ-on-chips, and 3D cardiac spheroids/organoids to understand the molecular mechanisms driving cardiovascular disease and heart development. For example, the Sharma laboratory employs hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (personalized, beating heart muscle cells) and endothelial cells (cells lining the blood vessels) to develop novel ways to assess and alleviate the cardiovascular damage caused by cancer drugs. The lab also studies the developmental mechanisms underlying congenital heart disease and vascular malformations.

Sharma also has a unique background and interest in the space biosciences and investigates means by which stem cell biology can intersect with this emerging field. In 2016, Dr. Sharma led a project that sent human stem cell-derived heart cells to the International Space Station to study the effects of microgravity on human heart function, which was the first long-duration cell culture experiment in space. He remains an internationally-recognized leader in the space biosciences field, and his laboratory studies means of harnessing microgravity to manufacture unique biomaterials.

Sharma has published articles in leading scientific journals such as Science, Nature Biotechnology, Science Translational Medicine, Circulation Research, Nature Reviews, Stem Cell Reports, and Cell Stem Cell. His research has been featured in major news outlets such as Forbes Magazine, Newsweek, Science Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science, STAT Wunderkinds, Sartorius & Science Award in Regenerative Medicine, the American Heart Association Career Development Award, the Compelling Results Award from NASA, the Igniting Innovation Award from the ISS National Laboratory, and the Donna and Jesse Garber Award for Cancer Research.

Dr. Sharma earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Duke University and his PhD in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine from Stanford University. He completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in cardiovascular genetics at Harvard Medical School. He is also an advocate for conveying science to general and scientific audiences through public speaking and social media.

Chunhui Xu, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Xu has extensive research experience on stem cells and heart cell development. Her research is focusing on heart cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), which hold promise for cell therapy, disease modeling, and drug discovery. Her group has made significant contribution to the field of hPSCs. Several of their publications have been identified as a hot paper or among the most highly cited publications in the field of hPSCs. She is an inventor or co-inventor of 18 issued US patents, and her publications have been cited more than 12,000 times according to Google Scholar. Her research has been funded by NCI, NHLBI, NIAAA, NSF, CASIS, GA Research Alliance, AHA, and HESI/FDA. Her spaceflight experiment was called as a significant step for next-generation space research by the International Space Station National Laboratory, and featured by the ISS National Lab, NSF, NASA, CNN, and Chemical & Engineering News.

Throughout her career in the space industry, Jana has focused on the development of economically sustainable and profitable uses of space that benefit life on Earth. She successfully established the foundational partnerships that are defining the emerging market sectors for healthcare and technology in the expanding space economy. In addition to a strong technical background, Jana 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. She transitioned from a successful career in pharma, biotech and medical device, to lead life science research in microgravity as part of the team managing the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory (ISS-NL), served as Commercial Innovation Officer for Space Tango, and as Global Director, In-Space Manufacturing for Axiom Space. Jana envisions a future where the definition of ‘global’ will expand to create a world economy that includes a robust commercial space economy in low Earth orbit.

Jana is a past member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space (NAS CBPSS), Regenerative Medicine Manufacturing Society member, NSF Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine In Space Innovation, Translation and Education Core (ITEC) Lead, a WOMEN In Advanced Therapies (WIAT) leadership mentor, and past New Organ Alliance Oversight Committee Member, along with co-chair of the Microgravity Enabling Technology Committee. Jana also served as co-editor of the book entitled, In-Space Manufacturing and Resources: Earth and Planetary Exploration Applications (Wiley, ISBN: 978-3-527-83091-6).

Jessica Pham is the Stellar Mission Specialist of the Sanford Stem Cell Institute at UC San Diego. Under the leadership of Dr. Catriona Jamieson, Jessica is committed to redefining regenerative medicine by studying the effects of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on normal and malignant stem cells. To date, Jessica has successfully launched nine biological payloads to the International Space Station in the hopes of developing human pre-cancer models to better understand, predict, and prevent disease progression.

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 Associate 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.

Mari Anne Snow is the CEO and co-founder of Eascra Biotech, a Massachusetts-based life sciences company pioneering the development of space-made therapeutics using its proprietary Janus Base Nanoparticle (JBNp) platform. Under her leadership, Eascra has become a multi-award recipient of NASA and NSF programs advancing in-space manufacturing for next-generation nanomedicines. A longtime advocate for patient-centered innovation and responsible technology development, Mari Anne brings a pragmatic business lens to the evolving low-Earth orbit (LEO) economy. Her work bridges biotechnology, space infrastructure, and healthcare delivery, building the foundations for safe, effective, and commercially viable space-enabled medicines designed to improve global health outcomes.

Meenal Datta is an assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, with a concurrent appointment in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Prof. Datta received her Ph.D. in chemical and biological engineering from Tufts University in 2018, after which she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, before starting her faculty position in 2021. Her research focuses on deciphering the atypical tumor microenvironment that drives disease progression and treatment resistance in incurable cancers. By understanding and overcoming the biological, chemical, electrical, and mechanical abnormalities found in solid tumors, new therapeutic approaches can be discovered.

Prof. Datta specializes in multidisciplinary and mechanism-based preclinical research that has the potential to be rapidly translated to improve treatment approaches in the clinic. She has spent her time as a researcher deciphering and reprogramming abnormal tissue microenvironments that are present in a variety of diseases ranging from virulent tuberculosis to benign schwannoma to deadly glioblastoma that, surprisingly, share unifying features: abnormal blood vessels, abundant extracellular matrix, immunosuppression, and mechanopathologies. During her Ph.D., Dr. Datta normalized the aberrant blood vasculature found in pulmonary tuberculosis granulomas to improve drug delivery. In her postdoctoral training, Dr. Datta re-engineered the immunosuppressive brain tumor microenvironment to improve glioblastoma response to immunotherapy.

As the director of the Tumor Immune Microenvironment & Mechanics (TIME) Lab at Notre Dame (https://timelab.nd.edu), Prof. Datta’s research group applies engineering fundamentals and problem-solving approaches to explore immunomechanics and mechano-immunology in health and disease and to discover novel biophysical mechanisms that can be targeted therapeutically to enhance treatment outcomes in cancer and other conditions. Prof. Datta’s lab also conducts science-in-space experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) to test novel modeling and treatment approaches on cancer avatars in microgravity.

Prof. Datta has received numerous awards in support of her research including a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute F31 predoctoral fellowship (2016), a postdoctoral fellowship from the American Association of Cancer Research (2019), a National Cancer Institute K22 career transition award (2021), a junior faculty award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (2022), a National Institute of General Medical Sciences R35 award for early-stage investigators (2023), and an AFOSR Young Investigator Program award (2025). Dr. Datta’s in-space research on the ISS is supported by grants from NSF/CASIS Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology (2024) and AFOSR Space Biosciences (2024, 2025). In 2024, Prof. Datta was awarded the Young Innovator Award in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering from the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). In fall 2025, Prof. Datta will be awarded the Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award from BMES.

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 Graner received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois followed by post-doctoral and research faculty work at the University of Arizona, shifting gears from the Drosophila extracellular matrix to cancer immunotherapy. He then took at faculty position at Duke University’s Tisch Brain Tumor Center, followed by his current position as Professor in Neurosurgery at the University of Colorado Denver (Anschutz Medical Campus). He is also a member of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, the MAVRC Program, and holds a Visiting Professorship Appointment at the Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital (China) and an adjunct faculty appointment at Colorado State University. Graner has a long-standing interest in cell stress responses, which led to cancer vaccine development (including one in clinical trials), which somehow led to the world of extracellular vesicles (EVs). His lab currently concentrates on signaling mechanisms involving EVs, in particular the transfer of stressed phenotypes from stressed tumor cells to unstressed ones via EVs.

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.

Dr. Munmun Chattopadhyay is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine at TTUHSC El Paso, TX, USA. Her research is focused on determining the impact of inflammatory mediators on the pathogenesis of diabetic complications including peripheral neuropathy, cardiomyopathy and gastroparesis. The lab is investigating the novel early biomarkers of inflammation and epigenetic modulators (histone modifications) involved in the progression of peripheral neuropathy, cardiac dysfunction and gastroparesis in diabetic animals and human subjects. She is also evaluating whether inhibiting inflammation or epigenetic modifications will alter the progression of these complications. Dr. Chattopadhyay has been funded by NSF, NIH, ADA and other foundations, published more than 45 peer reviewed manuscripts. She has served on many institutional and regional committees including Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee as a Chair. She is editorial board member in a number of peer reviewed journals as well as panel member in several grant review committees including NIH, NSF, ADA and DoD. Currently, her work is focusing on the effects of radiation mediated stress responses on sensory neurons and cardiac cells during space flight.

Dr. Niamh McDermott, PhD, is Principal Scientist for Translational Research at Helogen Corporation, with expertise in cancer biology, DNA repair, and drug development. She earned both her Bachelor’s degree in Genetics and PhD in Cancer Biology from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Following her doctoral training, Dr. McDermott joined Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), where she spent eight years advancing scientific discovery at the interface of basic and translational research. At MSKCC, she led innovative projects investigating treatment response and the development of novel inhibitors targeting DNA damage repair pathways. Her work involved close collaboration with both academic and industry partners to accelerate drug development and improve patient outcomes, bridging laboratory research and clinical application. Dr. McDermott has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications on topics including DNA repair, genome instability, radiation biology, and therapeutic response, contributing to a deeper understanding of cancer biology and the development of targeted treatment strategies. In her current role at Helogen, she is excited to apply her technical expertise and translational insight to explore new frontiers in biotechnology, particularly leveraging biological research in outer space to advance human health and scientific innovation.

Dr. Palaniappan Sethu is a Biomedical Engineer by training with a PhD from the University of Michigan where he developed new polymer based lab-on-a-chip technologies for genomic and proteomic assays. Dr. Sethu completed his postdoctoral training at the Center for Engineering in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Shriners Burns Hospital working on label-free approaches to isolate leukocyte sub-populations from whole blood. After spending the 1st 7 years of his career at the University of Louisville, he is currently a Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering within the Division of Cardiovascular Disease at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Dr. Sethu also serve as the Section Chief for Basic and Translational Sciences within the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and as the Program Director for the Engineering Education in Medicine Program within the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Paula Grisanti, DMD, MBA is CEO and a founding member of the National Stem Cell Foundation (NSCF), headquartered in Louisville, KY. Since 2018, NSCF has been funding a collaborative research study of neurodegeneration on the International Space Station with brain organoids derived from the iPSC’s of people with Parkinson’s disease and primary progressive MS. Six missions have been completed to date, with additional ground research and another three flights between now and 2027 covered by a recent InSPA grant from NASA. Future flights will include organoids derived from the cells of people with Alzheimer’s, including those with mutations linked to early onset forms of the disease. This research team also developed the patent-pending cryovial technology that enables long-duration preservation of cells in space.

As part of its education and workforce development platform, NSCF underwrites the National STEM Scholar Program, a collaboration with the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University. The program provides advanced STEM training, national network building and “big idea” project funding for middle school teachers nationwide. Selected annually from a national pool of applicants, there are now 100 teachers in 37 states who have been through the program and will have collectively reached more than 190,000 middle school students in the U.S. by June 2026. Nearly 43% teach in mid-to-high poverty schools and 39% teach in towns with a population under 15,000.

She is a longstanding member of the International Women’s Forum Kentucky chapter and currently serves on the Delta Dental of Kentucky Board of Directors and the Executive Women's Alumni Advisory Board to the University of Louisville School of Business.

Shelby Giza is the Director of Business Development for Applications at Space Tango, where she aligns corporate objectives with groundbreaking opportunities in health and technology for space-based research and manufacturing. Shelby bridges strategic vision with tactical implementation, fostering seamless collaboration among internal teams and external partners. Her leadership in advancing best practices for the ideation and production of patient therapeutics in space is instrumental in shaping a thriving low-Earth orbit economy. Working closely with research institutions, industry pioneers, and government stakeholders, Shelby drives partnerships that unlock new opportunities, expanding the space-based science and manufacturing solutions market.

With over 20 years of research experience centered on translational medicine, Shelby delivers evidence-based insights that ensure the design and development of advanced hardware and facilities tailored to the diverse needs of scientific ventures. She has played a pivotal role in the R&D of groundbreaking therapeutics, including NIO752 (currently in multiple Phase I trials for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Alzheimer’s), Beovu® (approved in 2019 for Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Macular Edema), and the SYNERGY™ Drug-Eluting Stent (approved in 2015). Shelby’s contributions to innovation extend to mRNA vaccine technology, where she participated in the DARPA ADEPT-PROTECT program at Novartis years before the COVID-19 pandemic. She also brings International Space Station (ISS) user experience, having supported the development of a 3D human muscle tissue chip in collaboration with Space Tango and the Malany Lab at the University of Florida, which flew aboard SpaceX CRS-21.

Ms. Stefanie Countryman is the Director of BioServe Space Technologies and a Research Associate within the Ann and HJ Smead Aerospace Engineering and Science Department at the University of Colorado Boulder. Ms. Countryman has worked for BioServe for over 25 years. As Director, she leads a wide variety of activities including oversight of BioServe’s portfolio of space flight research and engineering projects. Ms. Countryman has been involved in or directly responsible for over 70 space life science experiments and hardware development projects ranging from the simple to the very complex. She is an expert in the process for developing, launching and operating life science experiments in space.

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Dr. Bill McLamb, Ph.D, is a lifelong resident of Florida's Space Coast, and the Founder and CEO of Low Earth Orbit Biosciences, developing innovative solutions for research and development that will expand the capabilities for iterative, fundamental and applied studies in low Earth orbit (LEO). He leverages his 30 years of experience in spaceflight programs to support translational biomedical research and next-generation technology development with applications in biomanufacturing, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Bill has previously served as Operations Project Manager with the U.S. ISS National Laboratory, and worked in leadership roles in technical integration and project management for Sierra Space, Axiom Space, and Space Tango.

Dr. Yupeng Chen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Connecticut. Holding both an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and chemistry from Brown University, Dr. Chen's long-term research interest lies in the design and development of DNA-inspired Janus base nanomaterials for regenerative engineering applications. He holds 11 US patents and 14 international patents in Janus base nanotechnology, some of which have been successfully licensed to industry partners. Dr. Chen has authored one book, 11 book chapters, and 74 peer-reviewed publications, and he and his lab have delivered 127 conference presentations and invited talks. His achievements have been recognized with the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from NSF, the discovery award from DOD, and the New Investigator Recognition Awards from the Orthopaedic Research Society. Elected as a senior member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) in recognition of his efforts to translate scientific breakthroughs into practical applications, Dr. Chen has secured many competitive federal research grants from agencies such as NIH, NSF, NASA, DOD, and the International Space Station (ISS) National Lab.