Alert Diver Category: Researcher Profile

FISHING AND BEING ON THE WATER with family while growing up influenced Michael Lombardi to study marine biology. He and a friend got certified to dive during his junior year […]

Melissa Ilardo, PhD, is passionate about working in the distinct field of genetic analyses on individuals, primarily in Indigenous populations who have adapted to unique lifestyles or environments.

Pieter-Jan van Ooij, MD, PhD, is the head of the Department of Research, Innovation, and Education at the Royal Netherlands Navy’s Diving Medical Centre (DMC).

Born in Uruguay in 1982, Alejandro Garbino, MD, PhD, has been fascinated with air and sea since he was young. His passion for the air stemmed from an uncle who flew banner airplanes along the beach.

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.

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.

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.

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.