Speakers

Speaker profile

Prof. Damian Bailey is Chair of the Life Sciences Working Group of the European Space Agency and Director of the Neurovascular Research Laboratory, University of South Wales. Supported by the Royal Society and funded by the European Space Agency and SpaceX, his work also examines how the human brain responds to the challenges of deep spaceflight. Specifically, his research program is committed to understanding how free radicals impact the human brain and why improving blood flow and oxygen delivery protect against stroke and neurodegeneration. He takes advantage of unique experimental models spanning spaceflight, high-altitude mountaineering, freediving, skydiving, concussion, and (the first) isolated extracorporeal pulsatile-perfusion system to better understand what causes premature brain ageing. He pioneered the direct detection of free radicals across the human brain, providing unique insight into the mechanisms underlying the ‘physics-iology’ of cerebral oxygen ‘sensing’. Damian has published over 400 manuscripts that have attracted in excess of 14,000 citations (h-index of 63). His contributions to clinical neuroscience have been recognised with prestigious awards and fellowships from the Wellcome Trust, Royal Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, American College of Sports Medicine and The Physiological Society. He works closely with the media and has featured in a number of documentaries (BBC including Horizon Specials, ITV, Channels 4 and 5, Sky). He is currently Editor-in-Chief of Experimental Physiology, and Member of the Human Spaceflight and Exploration Science Advisory Committee to the European Space Agency and member of the Space Exploration Advisory Committee to the UK and Swedish National Space Agencies Damian is also affiliated to Bexorg, Inc. (Yale, USA) focused on the technological development of novel biomarkers of cerebral bioenergetic function in humans.