Ronak Shah to launch and lead UTMB Department of Aerospace and Exploration Medicine

The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) has established a new Department of Aerospace and Exploration Medicine within its School of Public and Population Health, expanding the university's longstanding work in aerospace health and positioning UTMB to help address the health challenges of the next era of human exploration.

Ronak V. Shah, DO, MBA, MPH, has been named the department's inaugural chair.

For more than three decades, UTMB has helped train physicians and other professionals to meet the unique health challenges associated with aviation and human spaceflight. The new department builds on that foundation with an expanded mission focused on developing the research, technologies, and approaches needed to protect human health and performance as people venture into increasingly complex environments.

"Human exploration is changing rapidly, and the health challenges associated with distance, isolation, and limited resources are changing along with it," Shah said. "Creating the Department of Aerospace and Exploration Medicine gives us an opportunity to build on decades of expertise at UTMB as we prepare for the future."

Shah has served on the UTMB faculty since 2012 and became director of the university's Aerospace Medicine Division in February 2022. In that role, he has overseen the program's educational, business, and strategic activities and led a multidisciplinary team that provides space medicine and research expertise in support of NASA.

Shah served as medical director of clinical services in NASA's Space Medicine Operations Division from 2017 to 2022. A graduate of the UTMB Aerospace Medicine Residency, he is board certified in Aerospace Medicine and Internal Medicine.

From Aerospace Medicine to Aerospace and Exploration Medicine

Elevating Aerospace Medicine from a division to a department provides a broader academic structure for expanding research, education, and collaboration across disciplines. The addition of "exploration" to the department's name reflects the evolution of the field and the university's growing focus on the health and performance challenges associated with new forms of human exploration.

The department will continue the institution's work in Aerospace Medicine while expanding research and training in other demanding environments. One example is the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Fellowship that UTMB plans to launch in 2027, connecting the physiology of high-pressure undersea environments with the low-pressure demands of altitude and spaceflight.

Preparing for the next era of human exploration

The creation of the department comes as human spaceflight continues to evolve beyond traditional government-led missions.

"In the era of a growing global space economy, we are revisiting questions such as who is flying, what is their destination, what vehicle will get them there?" Shah said. "The answers to these questions will drive what research is needed and how we train the next generation."

Through the new department, UTMB aims to build on its established Aerospace Medicine legacy while advancing research, education, and collaboration to help prepare for the next generation of aviation, spaceflight, and exploration.