FAA Executive Physician/Scientist Joins UCF Aerospace Medicine Team

Highlights

• UCF has recruited one of the nation's foremost aerospace medicine experts. After decades leading the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, Melchor Antuñano joins the College of Medicine as professor, chief technologist and medical innovation officer.

• A Mexico City native, Antuñano came to America in 1985 to complete an aerospace medicine residency at Wright State University, the only program of its kind at the time. At UCF, Antuñano will enhance educational offerings and training in this field, which is gaining more interest nationally with increased space flights and aviation advancements.

• Antuñano brings the same drive for discovery to UCF that has defined his career, including graduate research to improve cooling technology for U.S. Air Force personnel that led to a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship, the Aerospace Medical Association's Young Investigator Award and other research opportunities.

He's an experienced skydiver, private pilot and scuba diver whose hero since childhood has been moon-walker Neil Armstrong. And now Melchor Antuñano is a UCF Knight.

After 34 years with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) - the longest term for any senior executive in the agency's history - Antuñano has joined the College of Medicine's aerospace medicine team as a professor, and chief technologist and medical innovation officer. In these roles he'll help design new procedures and technologies to keep astronauts, pilots and airplane passengers safer and help create a new UCF master's degree in aerospace medicine and a residency program for aerospace medicine physicians. He'll also teach across UCF colleges.

"Being part of this outstanding visionary team gives me the opportunity not only to help advance the field I love, but also to inspire, educate and mentor the next generation of physicians, scientists and innovators." - Melchor Antuñano, UCF aerospace medicine medical innovation officer

Antuñano says a career in aerospace medicine has given him the "opportunity to continually learn, adapt and contribute to a specialty defined by innovation, exploration, and discovery."

"Joining the UCF College of Medicine represents a new and exciting chapter in that journey," he continues. "Being part of this outstanding visionary team gives me the opportunity not only to help advance the field I love, but also to inspire, educate and mentor the next generation of physicians, scientists and innovators."

He is the newest leader to join UCF's new Center for Aerospace and Extreme Environments Medicine (CASEEM), a multidisciplinary center includes faculty experts in medicine, engineering, computer science, psychology, arts and educational leadership who will work together to research and develop new technologies for keeping space travelers healthy as well as soldiers on military missions, deep sea explorers, and mountain climbers.

"Dr. Antuñano brings to UCF an extraordinary combination of operational experience, scientific leadership, innovation and a lifelong commitment to aerospace medicine," says Emmanuel Urquieta, vice chair for aerospace medicine and director of CASEEM. "For more than three decades, he helped shape aerospace medicine and safety at the national and international levels. Having someone of his caliber join our team is transformative as we build a comprehensive aerospace medicine program that integrates clinical care, education, research and technology development."

A Resourceful First Responder Before Medical School

Born in Mexico City, Antuñano had two dreams as a child: to be a doctor and fly airplanes. Before entering medical school at the National Autonomous University of Mexico School of Medicine, he volunteered with the Red Cross and the country's rescue squad as a paramedic, rescue worker and EMT. He couldn't afford to buy a red emergency light for his car. So he made one using a pot.

"My parents always instilled in my sisters and me the importance of doing our best, persevering in the face of adversity, planning ahead and learning from our mistakes," he says. "I learned from my parents the importance of being kind, fair and respectful to everybody."

He learned about aviation medicine during medical school and volunteered at the Mexican Government's National Center of Aviation Medicine, where he learned about aviation physiology (including altitude chamber operations), human factors in aircraft accident investigation and pilot medical certification.

Melchor Antuñano flying in a biplane. (Photo courtesy of Melchor Antuñano)

Impact Fueled by Taking Initiative

Next came residency. Antuñano says he came to America because the only civilian aerospace medicine residency program was at Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio.

He learned about this program by writing letters to senior U.S. federal government officials - including then President Ronald Reagan - inquiring where to pursue postgraduate training in aviation medicine in the U.S. He was accepted into the residency.

"That opportunity allowed me to pursue my professional dream and meet aerospace medicine physicians from all over the world," he says.

Antuñano also earned a master's in aerospace medicine at Wright State. His research was using a portable head cooling system to protect U.S. Air Force personnel from heat exposure. He built his lab in the kitchen of the residents' lounge. He turned up the heat, then added oil and air heaters to create a thermal chamber. His experimental subjects were his classmates. He earned the Aerospace Medical Association's Young Investigator Award for his initiative.

Melchor Antuñano (left) with astronaut Buzz Aldrin. (Photo courtesy of Melchor Antuñano)

After residency, he received a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship from the National Research Council of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. After that, he was hired as a contract scientist for the school to work on personal cooling technology for individuals wearing nuclear, biological and chemical protective suits.

Antuñano joined the FAA in 1992 and served as manager of the Medical Education Division and the Medical Certification Division at the agency's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) in Oklahoma City. The institute is responsible for medically certifying that the nation's pilots are physically fit to fly, training the physicians who perform the physical exams in the U.S. and in 90 countries worldwide, and conducting safety-related aerospace medicine and human factors research. He became CAMI's director in 2001 and retired earlier this year as the longest serving director in history.

Steering the Future of Aerospace Medicine at UCF

"A leader has the responsibility to make more leaders," he says. "Look for stars in the making - encourage them, support them and help turn them into future leaders." - Melchor Antuñano, UCF aerospace medicine medical innovation officer

As the commercial space industry expands and humans prepare for longer missions to the moon, Mars and beyond, UCF's College of Medicine is charting a new frontier in healthcare. The goal: explore how factors such as microgravity, radiation and isolation impact the human body in space and how that knowledge can drive innovation into diagnostics, treatment and disease prevention for patients on Earth.

As part of that effort, the aerospace medicine team is developing courses for students across the university and building a lab that will design, create and test the next generation of medical equipment to keep space travelers healthy. The team just opened the UCF Aerospace Medicine Clinic to provide medical certification exams for astronauts and pilots across the region.

Antuñano says he is excited about the future and his role in advancing aerospace medicine research while training the next generation of aerospace physicians.

"A leader has the responsibility to make more leaders," he says. "Look for stars in the making - encourage them, support them and help turn them into future leaders."

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