The four experts who presented at the symposium on space research and health advancements later participated in a panel discussion and Q&A session moderated by Kiana Aran, associate bioengineering professor at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. During the session, attendees learned about each participant’s early inspirations and how they got their start in the industry.
For School of Medicine professor Chantal Darquenne, it was a childhood moment in Belgium that sparked her lifelong fascination with space. Her passion for outer space was ignited when her father made her watch the five-minute TV sequence of the moment the first astronaut walked on the moon. She went on to earn her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and her doctorate in applied sciences in Belgium before moving to UC San Diego for a postdoctoral fellowship focused on studying lung function in space. This research solidified her career path, leading her to become the president of the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine and to spearhead research on topics such as lung ventilation and upper airway dynamics.
Alex Nemiroski, CEO of BioNexus, was introduced to the wonders of space through his grandfather, who designed space suits for Russia’s space program in the 1960s. This family connection inspired Alex’s early fascination with science. From a young age, he knew he wanted to be a scientist, particularly interested in the interface between technology, engineering, biology and medicine. He earned a physics degree from Cornell and a doctorate from Harvard, initially focusing on theoretical physics before shifting to biomedical applications. After a successful tenure at Illumina and growing a department at a startup, Alex founded BioNexus where he advances the development of bio-tools and medical devices.
As the symposium concluded
