Dr. Shawna Pandya is a physician, astronaut, aquanaut, researcher, explorer and international speaker working at the intersection of space medicine, extreme environments, technology and human performance. She is the first named female commercial Canadian astronaut and is scheduled to fly to space aboard Virgin Galactic’s Delta-class spacecraft with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS).
Dr. Pandya serves as Director of the IIAS Space Medicine Group, Chief Instructor of its Operational Space Medicine course, Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Alberta, and Chief of Space Medicine at the Advanced SpaceLife Research Institute. She is also VP of Immersive Medicine at Luxsonic Technologies and a flight physician with Sunwest Aeromedical.
Her operational experience spans some of the planet’s most demanding environments. She was among the first crew to test a commercial spacesuit in zero gravity and has completed 12 parabolic flight campaigns and more than 180 micro- and reduced-gravity parabolas. She has participated in two aquanaut missions, accumulating over 235 hours underwater, served on the payload crew of the IIAS-01 suborbital research flight, commanded a mission at the Mars Desert Research Station, and completed centrifuge, spacecraft emergency egress, sea survival and wilderness medicine training.
Her research has extended from Earth to space, including neuroscience payloads aboard the International Space Station, as well as research associated with Polaris Dawn and Blue Origin missions. She has previously worked at the European Astronaut Centre and NASA’s Johnson Space Center and has published on commercial spaceflight medicine, psychological resilience, space technologies and human health during long-duration missions.
A globally recognized speaker, Dr. Pandya has delivered talks and lectures for organizations and institutions including the Canadian Space Agency, Oxford, Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, the Explorers Club and World Extreme Medicine.
Her achievements include being named among the Women’s Executive Network Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, the Explorers Club’s 50 Explorers Changing the World, a Canadian Space Agency Space Ambassador, a Karman Pioneer, and a recipient of recognition from the Women’s Space Awards.
Dr. Pandya holds degrees in neuroscience, space studies and medicine. Beyond medicine and spaceflight, she is an advanced and rescue diver, solo skydiver, pilot-in-training and Taekwondo black belt. She speaks English, French and Gujarati, with additional experience in Spanish and Russian.
Her career represents a rare convergence of medicine, exploration, science, resilience and human performance at the limits of possibility.
