Kevin Fong

Dr Kevin Fong is a medical doctor interested in space medicine and extreme environments, particularly the medical and physiological challenges of long-duration human space missions. He holds degrees in Astrophysics and Medicine from University College London, a degree in Astronautics and Space Engineering from Cranfield University, and has completed space medical training rotations at Johnson Space Center, Houston, and Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral. Kevin has worked with research groups and senior figures at ESA in the past, organizing and chairing a number of key meetings with the goal of developing a strategy to further UK involvement in human space flight. He also participated in the European Science Foundation's evaluation of the ELiPS program, ESA's life and physical sciences program aboard the International Space Station. Kevin has worked closely with NASA's Human Adaptation and Countermeasures Office in the United States, part of their artificial gravity pilot study team. He has also worked as part of the team developing medical procedures for the X-38 Assured Crew Return Vehicle (ACRV) – a spacecraft that was once set to become the world's first space ambulance. Kevin has close links with ESA and NASA's human space exploration programs – including space life scientists and astronauts past and present – and has worked alongside the British National Space Centre and the UK Space Agency in campaigning for further British involvement in human space flight. In 2000, Kevin founded the Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme Environment Physiology (CASE) at University College London (UCL). This group focuses on the challenges of protecting life when faced with the extremes of illness, injury, and the environment. In the same year, he launched the UK's first undergraduate course in extreme environment physiology at UCL, which he organises and teaches. As a practising NHS doctor, Kevin is a Consultant in Anaesthesia at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a flying doctor with the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust. Kevin is as passionate about science communication as he is about human space exploration. He was one of the inaugural Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Fellows and is currently Honorary Professor of Public Engagement for Science and Medicine at UCL. Kevin is also a science broadcaster and author. He has produced numerous BBC documentaries, including Space Shuttle: The Final Mission (2011), Mars: A Horizon Guide (2009), and Blink: A Horizon Guide to the Senses (2012). He is the author of Extreme Medicine: Life, Death, and the Limits of the Human Body (2013).