Silvia Ferrari
Known for her work in developing sophisticated algorithms and methods for managing and coordinating complex systems, Silvia Ferrari has applied her expertise to integrating scuba diving technology with robotic systems.
Alert Diver Category: Researcher Profile
Lung-on-a-Chip
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Shields Lab — led by Wyatt Shields, PhD, an assistant professor of
chemical and biological engineering — are investigating how engineered microparticles, specifically designed for use in biomedicine, can be used in areas such as biosensing, where they bind to certain molecules or cells to enable drug delivery and the detection of biological conditions.
Physics, Biophysics and Decompression Sickness
Jens-Christian Meiners, Ph.D., a professor of physics and biophysics at the University of Michigan, focuses his laboratory’s research on mechanics of biological systems, primarily the dynamical properties of DNA and DNA–protein complexes. Meiners and his team are currently working on tissue mechanics and tissue damage through gas bubbles in the spinal cord, or spinal cord decompression sickness (DCS), which won him the 2019 DAN/R.W. “Bill” Hamilton Memorial Dive Medicine Research Grant.
Decompression Bubbles, Cardiac Health, and Dive Safety
In 2021 Peter Buzzacott, PhD, of Curtin University in Perth, Australia, received DAN’s Alfred Bove Research Grant for Cardiac Health in Scuba Diving. What began with a simple proposal has since developed into a training network for the next generation of scientists and led to a research network between Curtin University and Fiona Stanley Hospital in Western Australia.
Looking Into the Lungs
During medical school Peter Lindholm joined a laboratory researching aviation, space and underwater physiology, where he developed a passion for breath-hold dive physiology, about which he wrote his doctoral thesis. As one of the physicians for the Swedish Sports Diving Federation (SSDF), he was involved in developing breath-hold dive protocols and training the first instructors of competitive breath-hold diving. After clinical training as a radiologist, Lindholm moved to San Diego, California, where he leads a research group focused on dive physiology and dive medicine.
Hayden Hess: Passion and Purpose
The Center for Research and Education in Special Environments (CRESE) at the University at Buffalo in New York is at the forefront of environmental physiology research, investigating how various environmental stressors impact human health and performance.
Better Enabling Human Survival
In her work, Rachel Lance, Ph.D., focuses on extreme environments, particularly the effects of explosions. “The human body is fascinating, especially when it fails,” she says. “We are not naturally equipped to survive in a deep underwater environment, so I am fascinated with the idea of finding ways to do so anyway. Perhaps it’s my naturally rebellious side.”
Emmanuel Dugrenot
Emmanuel “Manu” Dugrenot, PhD, a senior researcher at Divers Alert Network (DAN), brings cutting-edge physiological research to the development of safety protocols for both technical and recreational diving.
What Does It Mean?
A PROFESSOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE and researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Stephen Thom holds medical and doctorate degrees from the University of Rochester. He previously led […]
Peter Buzzacott’s Research Journey
WHEN DID YOU START DIVING? I got certified in 1992 on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia. For the next five years I dived in Turkey, Thailand, and on the shipwrecks of Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, Scotland — all over …
