As the emerging commercial spaceflight industry grows, so does the need for medical care that can support humans living and working in space for longer than ever.

Our #SpaceU aerospace medicine program is taking on the challenge, finding new healthcare solutions in extreme environments like space and exploring how those discoveries can be translated to help people here on Earth. ...

Twenty-five years after America`s first astronauts began their journey into space, they launched the Astronaut Scholarship to help ensure the U.S. would be the global STEM leader for the next space races - And today three UCF students are recipients of this prestigious scholarship.

This year, the committee chose 74 juniors and seniors from 51 universities, and UCF is one of only three universities with a trio of winners — Keanu Brayman, Kyle Coutray and Sun Latt. Two of the scholarship awardees are students in the College of Medicine’s Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences.

Learn more about our Astronaut Scholars at: https://www.ucf.edu/news/meet-ucfs-2025-astronaut-scholars/ ...

The College of Medicine congratulates and thanks Dr. Donald Diebel Sr., who was recently honored with UCF’s John C. and Martha Hitt Honorary Alumni Award for his dedication that has “improved countless lives and inspired students and colleagues to embrace medicine as both a science and a calling.”

Dr. Diebel and his son, Don Jr., practiced together as Orlando OB-GYNs before the son’s death in 2002 when he stopped to assist car accident victims on Florida’s Turnpike. In his memory, the family created The Diebel Legacy Fund at the Central Florida Foundation to support and encourage good Samaritanism.

The fund supports the free KNIGHTS (Keeping Neighbors in Good Health Through Service) Clinic at Grace Medical Home, where UCF medical students work with community physicians to care for patients in need.

Learn more about Dr. Diebel and the Knights Clinic at the link in our bio. 🔗 ...

UCF space medicine initiatives are taking off! 🚀

As humans prepare for longer missions to the moon, Mars and beyond, the UCF College of Medicine is charting the new frontier in healthcare, exploring how factors like microgravity, radiation and isolation impact the human body. That knowledge can then be used to drive innovation into diagnostics, treatment and disease prevention for patients on earth.

As part of that effort, two internationally known aerospace medicine experts recently joined the medical school’s faculty as part of a new UCF center that will lead research and technology development for improving health in extreme environments such as space.

Dr. William (Ed) Powers joins UCF after serving as director of flight medicine for Axiom Space and former chief of NASA’s Medical Operations Branch, where he was the primary medical support physician for six shuttle missions and four Soyuz missions launched from Kazakhstan to the International Space Station.

Dr. Jennifer Fogarty was chief scientist for NASA’s Human Research Program, where she led efforts to reduce the health risks of space travelers, including those traveling to Mars.

Learn more about the new faculty joining UCF and how aerospace medicine can help us here on Earth at the link in our bio. 🔗 ...

The UCF College of Medicine faculty, staff and students are proudly wearing pink today in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month - and in support of everyone whose lives have been affected by breast cancer. 💗 ...