Management Committee
Management Committee
President
Margot Issertine (France)
Current Occupation and Institution
PhD Student in Space Physiology - Montpellier University, France
Field of Research
Experimental Medicine, Space Physiology, Cardiology, Myology
Why am I working on gravity related sciences?
Growing up, I wanted to become either a surgeon or an astronaut. And becoming a physician had been my goal for a long time, until my plans changed a little bit. After going to medical school for 2 years, I transferred majors and got a bachelor degree in physiology and neurosciences. At this point I discovered the field of space physiology, and guess what ? It was the perfect combination between the two scientific fields I was passionate about : I could study the human body, in space. The fact that the discoveries could also be applied to patients on earth was also really appealing. It was the perfect fit.
So, after getting into my master program I made the choice to go to Brussels, in a lab working on space cardiology. I loved it so much I decided to continue my second year internship in Boston, studying this time how muscles behave in Space.
My Phd focuses on Countermeseasures to the musculoskeltal deconditonning in zero G and Partial gravity (the moon, Mars).
A message to SELGRA members and future members
Changing path is natural and you will learn so much from it. Getting involved in extracurricular activities like associations helped me to build a network and to learn about the different sides of my field. If you have the opportunity to do the same, go for it ! I would also advise you to be as much interdisciplinary as you can.
Contact
margot.issertine@umontpellier.fr
Vice-President
Eline Radstake (Belgium)
Current Occupation and Institution
Post-doctoral Fellow
Field of Research
Space physiology
Why am I working on gravity related sciences?
My interest in space, and more specifically, human adaptation to the spaceflight environment, led me to specialize in this field early on in my education. During my master in Cognitive Neuroscience I investigated the effect of exposure to hypergravity on brain plasticity in F16 fighter jet pilots using MRI. Furthermore, I followed courses such as the ESA Human Space Physiology Training Course and the SCK CEN Space Summer School.
After completing my master, I started as a doctoral student at the Radiobiology Unit of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre. For my research I am investigating how the space environment affects the skin. To this aim, we use in vitro models of primary fibroblasts that are exposed to simulated micro- to simulated micro- ad hypergravity, psychological stress and ionizing radiation. With this research we aim to identify possible interaction effects of spaceflight stressors on the skin.
As long as I can remember space inspired me and working in space physiology research allows me to combine my passions for space and human health. Which is a dream come true for me.
Contact
elineradstake@gmail.com
Communications Officer
Dawid Przystupski (Poland)
Current Occupation and Institution
PhD student at Department of Paediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation, Oncology and Haematology, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland
Field of Research
Multidrug resistance phenomena in human cancer cells
Why am I working on gravity related sciences?
Since I was a kid I was dreaming to become an astronaut. I was fascinated by the stars, black holes and so on but... then I discovered biology. That changed my life and instead of studying astrophysics, I decided to become a medical doctor.
During my medical studies, I became a member of the Student Scientific Group "Biology of Cancer Cells" and started my research in tumorous cell physiology, primarily on multidrug phenomena. Due to the fact that gravity alteration displays remarkable influence on biological processes of cancer cells, I started wondering if gravity-related experiments may become a promising method of improving our knowledge in the field of cancer biology and may be useful to detect interesting implications for future cancer treatment. As a leader of ARES group (Astrobiology-Related Experiments and Simulations), I gained the opportunity to make my dream come true and carry out experiments in simulated micro- and hypergravity. I believe that my gravity-related research may constitute an additional step toward enhancing our understanding of the relationship between cellular resistance to chemotherapy and the response to various gravitational stimuli.
Contact
dawid.przystupski@gmail.com
Committee Members
Akmaral Suleimenova (Portugal)
Current Occupation and Institution
PhD Student - MITPortugal program in Bioengineering systems, University NOVA Lisbon/ ISEP/ Unıversıty of Coimbra
Field of Research
Biosensors
Why am I working on gravity related sciences?
Space diagnostics is uniting the things i enjoyed the most but thought there were not mixable. I was born in Kazakhstan, the place from where the first human Y. Gagarin went to space and always was fascinated by mystery of space and aeronautics. I always wanted to be a part of a big discovery and unknown. As travelling to space is becoming more and more available in order to provide such opportunity to everyone we need to take care that their health will maintain in great conditions.
Here space diagnostics come to the play and who knows may be humanity is to expand our living to other planets, thats why we need more knowledge about microgravity, fundamental knowledge of its effects on matter, health, everything!
Contact
a.suleimenova@campus.fct.unl.pt
Jakob Mali (Slovenia)
Current Occupation and Institution
Bachelor student in Mechanical Engineering – Research and Development Programme, Slovenia
Field of Research
Mechanical Engineering
Why am I working on gravity related sciences?
I am a former Slovenian track and field athlete; I am a lover of animals and nature and a very big fan of space. Especially the universe itself, with all its grandeur really impresses me. It is so great and unknown that it stimulates our imagination and curiosity. Really only the space is the limit.
And it was SELGRA that enabled me to find myself in a community of people who share my enthusiasm and look up to the sky, where many possibilities open to them.
I’m looking forward to being able to add a piece to our community over the next two years with excellent members of the management committee.
Contact
jakob.mali@hotmail.com
Agata Górska (Poland)
Current Occupation and Institution
PhD student at Department of Cell Pathology, Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wroclaw
Field of Research
Genetics and Experimental Biology
Why am I working on gravity related sciences?
Although I've been inspired by space since I was a child, the nearest field to my heart and eventually my specialization became molecular biology. Dragged into the world of astrobiology by my friend, I have finally found a way to combine those passions in my research. For the last four years, I've carried out various astrobiology-related experiments within the framework of the ARES (Astrobiology-Related Experiments and Simulations) group. Working on the cellular model of multi-drug resistant ovarian cancer I was part of the investigations concerning the influence of altered gravity on the susceptibility of chemotherapeutics. Those preliminary results were an inspiration for the Spin Your Thesis! 2019 project named HyperCells, where we expected to provoke higher sensitivity of malignant cells to drugs by the exposure to hypergravity. After all, gravity-related research occurred to be the proverbial "golden mean" between space medicine and canonic cancer physiology, since the exploration of the molecular pathways altered by gravitational stress may contribute to a better understanding of cellular biology. At the moment I am a Ph.D. student at the University of Wroclaw, exploring the importance of integrin-linked kinase, the focal adhesion protein in the migration, and invasion of melanoma cells.
Contact
agata.d.gorska@gmail.com
Cyril Tordeur (Belgium)
Current Occupation and Institution
Master of Research Student in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physiology – Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Field of Research
Cardiac Physiology, High Altitude Medicine and Physiology, Control of Breathing, Cerebral Blood Flow, Space Physiology
Why am I working on gravity related sciences?
I’ve always been attracted to space and space sciences, learning how the human body works and how it adapts to extreme environments has always been my passions. Those passions led me to study medicine, and physiotherapy. A few years ago, I discovered a tropism for research, and this motivated me to enrol in a Master of Research in cardiovascular and respiratory physiology. I was lucky enough to be accepted in a laboratory combining physiological and space research to do an internship and to begin my PhD thesis in cardiovascular space physiology in 2022. I’ve always wanted to be part of the space sector and it’s thanks to meetings and ESA/ELGRA education in gravity-related research that I was able to redirect my training from high-altitude medicine and physiology to space physiology. I’m therefore glad to be able to take part in the organization, the support of outreach activities and the promotion of research supported by SELGRA.
Contact
Cyril.Tordeur@ulb.be
