Our Members
Lonnie G. Petersen, MD, PhD, Principle Investigator
Lonnie (MD, PhD) completed her MD from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark in 2007 and has worked in Emergency Medicine and Intensive Care. Dr. Petersen received her PhD in Gravitational Physiology and Space Medicine in 2016. Currently Charles Stark Draper Professor, Assistant Professor at MIT of Aeronautics and Astronautics and supported by NASA, Department of Defense, and the Novo Nordic Foundation as well as being a Sapera Aude Fellow (National Research Council). Her research is rooted in cardiovascular, cerebral and exercise physiology always with an integrative physiology approach.
Bria Morse, MS, Graduate Student
Bria is a PhD student in the APL. She received her B.S. in Nutritional Science from Syracuse
University and M.S. in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition from California State University, Long
Beach. Bria has previously worked as a research physiologist in the biomedical and defense
industries. Her research interests are geared toward integrating concepts in physiology, nutrition,
metabolism, and biosensor technology development to applications in human performance and
medicine in extreme environments.
Ciarra Ortiz, MS, Graduate Student
Ciarra is a PhD student in the MIT AeroAstro department with a focus in Human-System
Collaboration. She received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of
Technology in 2023 and M.S in Aeronautics & Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology in 2025. Her prior research experience includes human performance,
physiological signals, and wearable device evaluation. Her current research interests includes
sensor fabrication and integrating dynamic control systems into different LBNP architectures
aimed at mitigating fluid shifts and cardiovascular deconditioning during long duration space
missions.
Daniela Davalos, MS, Graduate Student
Danny is a PhD student in MIT AeroAstro with a focus in Humans in Aerospace. She received
her B.S. in aerospace and mechanical engineering from UC Davis in 2023. Her prior research
experience includes turbulent flow physics, computer vision and thermal payload hardware
development for cubesats, along with helmet-mounted display technology for underwater
astronaut training at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL). Her current research interests
include developing countermeasures for astronaut safety during long duration spaceflight.
Anna Wadhwa, MS
Anna is an MD-PhD student at Harvard Medical School and MIT AeroAstro with a focus on Humans
in Aerospace. She received her BS in Biochemistry from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in
2021, summa cum laude. Her prior research experience include immune health, fatigue
countermeasures, and satellite algorithm development at various NASA centers, and artificial
gravity for bone health with the NASA/JAXA MHU-8 mission. Her current research interests include
understanding physiological risks and developing countermeasures for astronaut health in
lunar/Martian partial gravity environments
benjamin Mccloskey, ms, Graduate Student
Benjamin McCloskey is a PhD candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A Captain and Operations Analyst in the United States Air Force, Ben holds an M.S. in Operations Research from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Economics and Chinese from the United States Air Force Academy. Ben currently leads MIT APL’s Medical Evacuation research efforts, where his work focuses on decision-making under uncertainty in MEDEVAC operations. His research sits at the intersection of healthcare AI, physiological monitoring, autonomy, deep learning, and human-machine teaming, with a focus on developing decision-support systems for safer and more effective medical evacuation. He is particularly interested in explainable AI methods that help human operators, including pilots and clinicians, understand, trust, and appropriately rely on autonomous decision-support systems. More broadly, his work explores AI-enabled decision support, physiology-aware autonomy, and trustworthy systems for safety-critical healthcare and aerospace environments.
Elizabeth Romero, BS, Graduate Student
Aerospace Engineering student with a focus in Humans in Space. She
is currently working on countermeasure devices to aid in long duration human spaceflight,
specifically a lower body negative pressure (LBNP) suit. Previous work includes payload testing,
rocket propulsion development, and designing space mission concepts. Hobbies and interests
include martial arts, reading, and teaching.