Dr. Thais Russomano

Professor Thais Russomano, MD, PhD is Founder, CEO and Scientific Director of InnovaSpace, in a role providing leadership and direction to open up the world of Space and the Space Life Sciences to broaden and enable participation in this unique area, where Space becomes a platform for social, cultural and scientific development. 

Thais has more than twenty-five years of experience in the field of Space Life Sciences with a strong academic and research background. She single-handedly founded and coordinated for 18 years the Microgravity Centre in Brazil, a unique and internationally recognised reference centre in Latin America in the study of Human Space Physiology and Space Biomedical Engineering, now boasting eight laboratories focused in the fields of Aerospace Medicine, Human Physiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Telemedicine & eHealth. In addition she is Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of the International Space Medicine Consortium Inc, a US based company seeking to enhance and develop knowledge and technology in space human exploration, and Director of International Relations for the Human Spaceflight Capitalisation Office (HuSCO), based at Harwell in the UK. Thais is also the Deputy Director of the Space Physiology and Health Master's degree course at King's College London, and a Senior Lecturer in Space Life Science, aviation medicine and telehealth. Additionally, she is a guest lecturer in Space and Design at Aalto University Finland and in Telehealth at Deggendorf Institute of Technology, Germany.

  
A medical doctor specialising in internal and emergency medicine, Thais completed her Master’s Degree in Aerospace Medicine at Wright State University, Ohio, USA in 1991 and subsequently, a PhD in Space Physiology at King’s College London, UK in 1998. Thais has been involved for a number of years in research projects in partnership with the German Space Agency (DLR), where she acts as a guest scientist. She has participated in two European Space Agency (ESA) sponsored parabolic flight campaigns in Bordeaux, France, researching a new technique for administering extra-terrestrial CPR, and testing a medical device (Earlobe Arterialised Blood Collector – EABC) for the collection of arterialised blood in space. 

Thais is an active participant in the international scientific community, being an elected Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), and the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine, among others. She continues to contribute to international working groups in the field of manned space flight, most recently as a part of the International Space Committee’s ISO Space Systems – Man-Life Activity Support Systems and Equipment Integration in Space Flight, and the IAA, Medical Safety Guidelines for Space Crews Involved in Short-Duration Commercial Orbital Flight Operations.

Thais is the holder of seven patents for products and processes related to Space Life Sciences and Aerospace Biomedical Engineering.