The University of Central Florida announced on Mar. 18 that it will host the “Star Nona 2026” event on April 10 at the UCF Lake Nona Cancer Center, bringing together experts in space medicine, industry partners, and NASA astronaut Robert Curbeam to discuss advancements in keeping space travelers healthy and applying those findings to healthcare on Earth.
The event aims to strengthen UCF and Medical City’s reputation as a leading center for space medicine by fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers from UCF, local health organizations, and industry. Sessions will focus on topics such as microgravity, radiation exposure, and their effects on human physical and mental health—including impacts on muscles, bones, cells, vision, and the brain.
Michal Masternak, UCF professor of medicine and leader of the Lake Nona Research Council’s space medicine research group, said: “Our goal is to bring together space medicine leaders and experts from academia, medicine and the space industry to find more ways we can work together to research the health impacts of space flight and how our discoveries can also improve healthcare on Earth.”
The program will feature presentations by UCF researchers from various disciplines as well as research posters by graduate students and post-doctoral scientists. AdventHealth researchers will lead a session on protecting muscles in space. The plenary speaker is NASA astronaut Robert Curbeam—a U.S. Navy captain who holds the record for most spacewalks during a single mission.
Edward Ross, chair of medicine at UCF’s College of Medicine and assistant dean for research who leads the Lake Nona Research Council, said: “When people think of keeping space visitors healthy, we want them to immediately think UCF.” He added: “As a university, UCF was born to create the workforce to send humans to the moon. We’re continuing that legacy with space medicine.”
UCF has also established a new Center for Aerospace and Extreme Environments Medicine (CASEEM), which brings together faculty from multiple fields including engineering and psychology to develop technologies aimed at supporting not only astronauts but also military personnel and explorers in extreme environments. Registration for Star Nona 2026 begins at 8:15 a.m., with support from several sponsors including Dr. Jogi Pattisapu’s Hydrocephalus and Neuroscience Institute.
