Thais Russomano

Thais Russomano
Born 25 September 1963 (1963-09-26) (aged 1953)
Porto Alegre Rio Grande do Sul
Residence Porto Alegre, Brazil & London,UK
Nationality Brazilian
Fields Space medicine, Aerospace medicine
Aerospace Biomedical Engineering
Institutions PUCRS, King's College London
Doctoral advisor John Ernsting

Thais Russomano MD, MSc, PhD (born 25 September 1963) is a Brazilian doctor and scientific researcher specialising in Space medicine. She is founder and coordinator of the Microgravity Centre at PUCRS university, Porto Alegre, Brazil, establishing it in 1999 as the first educational and research centre in Space Life Sciences in Latin America. She is an Associate Professor with the Schools of Medicine, Aeronautical Sciences, and Engineering (Masters degree program) at PUCRS, a visiting Senior Lecturer at King's College London, and Guest Scientist at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Cologne, Germany,

Early life

Russomano grew up in the city of Pelotas in southern Brazil and studied medicine from the age of 16 at the Federal University of Pelotas, qualifying in 1985. Fours years on an Internal Medicine Residency program followed at Hospital de Clinicas, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Academic career

In order to pursue a career in Aerospace medicine, Russomano had to look outside her home country of Brazil as there were no such courses available nationally. In 1991 she completed an MSc in Aerospace medicine at Wright State University,[1] Ohio, USA. The following year, 1992, Russomano completed a NASA Flight Surgeon training course at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
The years 1994 through till 1998 were spent at King's College London, UK where she became the first person to complete a Ph.D. in respiratory space physiology under the mentorship of Air Vice-Marshall John Ernsting CB OBE FRCP FFOM FRAeS. Subsequent to this, a year was spent working at the German Aerospace Centre, Cologne, Germany before returning to Brazil and establishing the Microgravity Centre in 1999.[2] A further period of Post-Doctoral research in Space Life Science was completed at King's College in 2007. More recently Russomano has become linked with Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Finland where she conducts workshops in Space & Design.

Research

Dr. Russomano's main areas of research are in the development of projects relating to Aerospace medicine, Aerospace Biomedicine, Aerospace Biomedical Engineering, and Telemedicine. These studies include experiments conducted in simulated hypergravity, hypogravity, Microgravity and through Parabolic flight. A selection of topics covered to date are: Spatial disorientation with the use of a rotator Bárány chair
Hypoxia (medical)
Pharmaceutical medication and packaging under simulated microgravity conditions
Biomechanics and physiology of exercise in environments such as on space craft or planet surfaces
Adaptation of man to space environments and subsequent re-adaptation to Earth post flight
Hyperbaric chamber and Hypobaric chamber studies
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation studies in simulated space environments
Lower body negative pressure boxes (LBNP)
Telemedicine research developing systems, software and tools to enable health assistance to remote communities
Teleeducation projects at national and international level

Achievements

The Microgravity Centre, founded by Russomano has become an internationally recognised research centre in Space Life Sciences and led the way in Latin America. Research and teaching cooperations exist with many national and international partners including King's College London, UK; Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Centre, Cologne Germany; Greek Aerospace Medical Association, Thessalonik Greece; Medical University of Warsaw, Poland; Kaunas University of Medicine Lithuania; New York University, USA; Brazilian Society of Aerospace Medicine and Brazilian Space Agency. Dr Russomano has produced over 200+ scientific papers, presented at over 100 scientific meetings worldwide, and published in the main scientific journals of her field. She is internationally recognised as a leading researcher in the area of Space Life Science and a member of numerous professional associations including the International Academy of Astronautics and the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine. Russomano has been invited to take part in many study groups, including two working groups sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, The Bellagio Report: Cardiovascular Risks of Spaceflight: Implications for the Future of Space Travel.[3] in 2005, and Making the eHealth Connection.[4] in 2008. She remains to date the only native Latin American to hold a Ph.D in Space Physiology.

Selected bibliography

Books

Journals

References

  1. ↑ "MSc Thesis (1991) Abstract". Scientific Commons. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  2. ↑ "The Brazilian Research and Teaching Center in Biomedicine and Aerospace Biomedical Engineering, Abstract". Hippokratia. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  3. ↑ Sides, MB; Vernikos, J; Convertino, VA; Stepanek, J; Tripp, LD; Draeger, J; Hargens, AR; Kourtidou-Papadeli, C; et al. (2005). "The Bellagio Report: Cardiovascular risks of spaceflight: Implications for the future of space travel". Aviation, space, and environmental medicine. 76 (9): 877–95. PMID 16173686.
  4. ↑ "Making The eHealth Connection Participants List" (PDF). The Rockefeller Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
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