The Ocean Corporation collaborates with UTHealth Houston on Space Medicine Fellowship program

Curtis “Trey” Lowery III, MD, PhD, Space Medicine fellow, and Nicolas Heft, MD, director of the Space Medicine Fellowship. Photo courtesy of Nicolas Heft, MD.

UTHealth Houston and The Ocean Corporation are collaborating on UTHealth Houston’s Space Medicine Training Fellowship program, which now includes a two-week intensive training focused on hyperbaric technologies and analog environments akin to those astronauts experience during extravehicular activities (EVAs), or space walks.

The training will enhance the hands-on learning experience of fellows in the Space Medicine Fellowship program, giving them a deeper understanding of physiological and medical challenges encountered in extreme environments.

“Integrating commercial diving insights with advanced medical training provides these fellows with unparalleled expertise in managing extreme conditions,” said Richard Johnston, an instructor at The Ocean Corporation with experience in commercial diving and emergency medicine, as well as an Air Force background.

The collaboration focuses on preparing physicians for the unique health care challenges of space missions. Nicolas Heft, MD, the director of the Space Medicine Fellowship and an alumnus of the program, has developed an innovative curriculum that now includes practical hyperbaric environment training, where fellows will practice managing pressure changes, working under stressful conditions, and planning medical support for extreme environments.

This training is particularly relevant for long-duration space missions.

“The training will allow our fellows to experience firsthand some of the challenges that astronauts experience when performing space walks both in microgravity and on the surface of the moon,” Heft said.

“The UTHealth Houston Space Medicine program builds on decades of aerospace medicine research to develop a completely novel training pathway specifically designed for the future of human space travel,” said Curtis Lowery, MD, PhD, UTHealth Houston’s second-year fellow. “This dive training prepares us for various medical scenarios that can occur on expeditionary missions in space such as EVA support and treatment of barotrauma-related injuries.”

The collaboration between The Ocean Corporation and UTHealth Houston ensures that the next generation of space medicine professionals will receive leading-edge training.

“Collaborating with UTHealth Houston is a leap forward in our commitment to innovating education that meets the challenges of future space exploration,” said John Wood, president of The Ocean Corporation. “We’re equipping medical professionals to enhance human health, both on Earth and in space."