DAN announced that Dawn Kernagis, PhD, has joined the organization as DAN’s vice president, research. In this role, she will lead DAN’s research department, which has studied diving medicine and physiology for decades.
Kernagis is an applied researcher whose work focuses on human performance in extreme environments, including deep space and saturation diving. Before joining DAN, she served as director of scientific research for ocean engineering company DEEP and as vice chair for neurosurgery research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Over the past two decades, her research has been supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, the American Heart Association, and other organizations.
“Dawn Kernagis brings deep scientific knowledge and dedication to improving diver health and safety,” said Cliff Richardson, DAN president and CEO. “Her work on human performance and protection in undersea environments relates directly to DAN’s mission, and we are excited to have her leading research that will benefit the divers we serve.”
Kernagis has participated in underwater exploration, research, and conservation projects around the world since 1993. Her early work included deep underwater exploration at Wakulla Springs and in surrounding cave systems, and she became the first operations manager for Global Underwater Explorers. Those experiences helped shape her research on human physiology and performance in challenging environments.
“Diving has been a driving force in my life, and I’m honored to join DAN and contribute to its mission to make diving safer,” said Dawn Kernagis, vice president, research, at DAN. “My research has focused on challenges facing those exploring and working underwater, and I look forward to working with DAN’s team and research collaborators to better understand those challenges and support safer diving.”
In 2016, Kernagis was selected for NASA’s Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 21 undersea mission. That same year, she was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame. She received the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Young Scientist Award in 2018. Kernagis is also an Explorers Club Fellow.
For decades, DAN Research has studied issues important to diver health and safety, including flying after diving, aging and cardiac health, and diving with insulin-requiring diabetes. Today, DAN conducts in-house studies and collaborates with universities, institutions, and researchers to address ongoing questions in diving medicine and physiology.
For more information about DAN’s research department, visit DAN.org/Research-Reports.