Director, Astronauts, Life Sciences & Space Medicine, Canadian Space Agency
For more than 20 years, I have been involved in space exploration, with the conviction that this bold quest, intrinsic to humans, has the power to propel us into the future, catalyse innovation and unite us.
As Director, Astronauts, Life Sciences and Space Medicine, I am responsible for Canada’s participation in human spaceflight missions. This includes Canadian astronauts, operational space medicine, and Canada’s use of the International Space Station (ISS), which focuses on research to reduce the health risks associated with spaceflight.
Currently, my team is also evaluating potential solutions and contributions in health care technologies for deep space exploration beyond Earth orbit, such as to the Moon and Mars. We are working on the convergence of space exploration and terrestrial needs, with partners who share the same challenges, such as remote northern and indigenous communities, to combine expertise and efforts, while generating benefits here on Earth.
Previously, I worked as a research and development engineer in the field of space robotics and as a senior engineer and technical lead for Canadian contributions to international space exploration missions, namely NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander, which operated on Mars in 2008, and the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to Hubble, launched in 2021.