May 31, 2024
Hanson Is Incoming SMA President
Andrea Hanson, Ph.D., is the incoming President for the Space Medicine Association (SMA).
She is a human systems engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. She currently supports the Human Landing System Program under the Health and Medical Technical Authority as the Crew Health and Performance Lead to commercial providers, working on development of the next Lunar Lander, Lunar Terrain Vehicle, and EVA Services. In her early career she supported the Biomedical Sciences Branch as the ISS Exercise Countermeasures Operations Integration Lead, and the NASA Technical Lead for Countermeasure Operations with the Exercise Physiology and Countermeasures Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. She has served as a principal investigator for research conducted on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station focused on technology development to advance capabilities of in-flight fitness and performance through more robust physiological monitoring and targeted countermeasures. She moved on to support the Human Research Program and worked with the Exploration Medical Capabilities Element Systems Engineering & Integration team, implementing model-based systems engineering practices. She also served as the Manager for the CNS/BMed/SM (CBS) Portfolio within the Human Factors and Behavioral Performance Element of Human Research Program, implementing complex multi-disciplinary models to establish a baseline understanding of the impacts of deep space travel and prolonged radiation exposure on cognitive and physical performance.
Dr. Hanson earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of North Dakota, and a Masters and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. She was an NSBRI Postdoc at the University of Washington and conducted NASA sponsored research in the department of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, developing musculoskeletal models and wireless monitoring systems to track astronaut health on the Moon and Mars. She is an avid sailor and active in the local competitive sailing community.