Dr. Anand “Sunny” Narayanan is currently a Research Professor at Florida State University. Sunny holds a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in Medical and Space Physiology, and B.S. degrees from West Virginia University in Mechanical Engineering and Biology. Sunny took his first professional steps with NASA supporting systems engineering computational projects at the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility, completing team-based design-build-fly projects through NASA’s Microgravity University program, and conducting nanotechnology biomedical research as a Ronald E. McNair Scholar. He continued his academic steps at Texas A&M University, supported by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute for his doctorate to study physiological adaptations of astronauts during their journey in space. While his research focus was of the lymphatic and immune systems’ adaptations to spaceflight and clinical conditions, Sunny also led and supported interdisciplinary projects on topics including musculoskeletal, digestive, and cerebral science. His doctoral work also involved opportunities at Brookhaven National Labs, International Space Station spaceflight biomedical projects (Rodent Research-3, 9, and 18 and Rodent Research Reference Mission-2), National Institutes of Health, and NASA Kennedy and Johnson Space Centers. Now as a Research Professor, he continues his support of NASA’s space program, leading and supporting multiple biomedical studies investigating the physiological effects of deep space radiation, Lunar, and Martian gravity, relevant to our human space exploration goals as we return to the Moon and beyond through the Artemis program.

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.

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) to develop novel ways to alleviate the cardiovascular damage caused by cancer drugs. The lab also studies the developmental mechanisms underlying congenital heart disease, as well as examines the impact of infections on the cardiovascular system, such as in the setting of COVID-19.

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, and the Donna and Jesse Garber Award for Cancer Research.

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.

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, an innovative nanomedicine startup based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Under her leadership, Eascra is pioneering precision therapeutic delivery solutions for challenging tissues, including articular cartilage, kidneys, and ECM-rich solid tumors. Their proprietary Janus base nanoparticles (JBNps) are DNA-inspired synthetic molecules that encapsulate therapeutic agents, maintaining room temperature stability and extended bioactivity. In collaboration with NASA, the ISS National Lab, Axiom Space, and other commercial space companies, Mari Anne and her team are leveraging low Earth orbit to accelerate the development of advanced therapeutics. The Eascra team successfully completed five missions in microgravity in 24 months. Before founding Eascra, Mari Anne established the Remote Nation Institute, focusing on optimizing productivity in remote and dispersed organizations. Mari Anne is the author of "The Remote Work Handbook," a comprehensive guide to building effective remote team operating models. With extensive expertise in business strategy, entrepreneurship, change management, organizational development, and remote team leadership, she is a recognized authority in her field.

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 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.

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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.

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.

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.