Symposium

When Space Science Meets Medicine: New Opportunities for Research and Education

Wednesday, 2025/10/22, 08:30


As humanity prepares for exploration beyond low Earth orbit, clear parallels emerge with the challenges of an ageing society: sustaining physical and cognitive function, and delivering health support in remote, resource-limited settings and extreme environments. This interfaculty symposium brings space science and medicine together to exchange expertise, explore collaborations, and discuss educational pathways that could carry innovations seamlessly from orbit to patients' home—and back again.

Event organizer: Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern / Center for Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine, Inselspital
Speaker: Various
Date: 2025/10/22
Time: 08:30 - 12:30
Locality: Auditorium Felix Frey
sitem-insel
Freiburgstrasse 3
3010 Bern
Registration: Register here!
Characteristics: open to the public
free of charge

This symposium is organized in the framework of a delegation visit from the Kansai Medical University (KMU), Japan. A university-wide partnership between UniBE and KMU was officially launched in 2025, where a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Rector of the University of Bern, Prof. Virginia Richter, at Swissnex Osaka. At the UniBE Day at the Swiss Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, organized by the Center for Space and Habitability, a panel with ESA astronaut Marco Sieber discussed "How Space Research, Medicine and AI shape Our Future."

The Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, and the Center for Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine at Inselspital, are supported in organizing this symposium by the University of Bern and its Faculty of Medicine.

Program Overview

 

Time

Topic

Speakers
08:30 - 09:00 Welcome

Prof. Virginia Richter, Prof. Brice-Olivier Demory, Prof. Matthias Wilhelm
09:00 - 10:00

1 - White Mars: Antarctica's Role in Preparing for Deep Space Missions
2 - From Earth to Space: Translational Potentials of KAATSU (Blood Flow Restriction) Training
3 - From Orbit to Earth: Linking Space Education and Life Sciences for Future Healthcare

Dr. Jessica Studer


Prof. Yutaka Kimura


Prof. Kate Kitagawa
10:00 - 10:30 Q&A and Discussion All participants
10:30 - 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:00

1 - From the search for life beyond the Earth to the intraoperative detection of tumours
2 - Vestibular Systems in Microgravity
3 - Shared Frontiers: Space health and healthy ageing

Lisa Brandenburg, Prof. Brice-Olivier Demory
Prof. Dominik Obrist
Prof. Matthias Wilhelm
12:00 - 12:30 Q&A and Discussion All participants

Speakers

University of Bern

Prof. Virginia Richter, Rector UniBE

Virginia Richter is Rector of the University of Bern, Professor of Modern English Literature. She studied English, Comparative and German Literature at the University of Munich, and also obtained there her PhD in Comparative Literature and her habilitation in English and Comparative Literature. Her leadership experience includes service as Vice Rector International and Academic Careers, Head of the Department of English, President of the Institute of Advanced Study (now Walter Benjamin Kolleg), and Vice Dean and Dean of the Humanities at the University of Bern; she was also President of the Forum for University and Society and Vice President of the Swiss Association of University Teachers in English.

Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern

Prof. Brice-Olivier Demory, Director CSH

Brice-Olivier Demory is Director of the Center for Space and Habitability of the University of Bern. He obtained his MSc in physics from EPFL and PhD from the University of Geneva. He spent three years at MIT to work on NASA space missions and three others at the University of Cambridge (UK). In Bern he leads an interdisciplinary research group focusing on 1) novel instrumentation for medical applications, 2) the search for life in our solar system and 3) the detection of Earth-like exoplanets. He strives to develop societal applications through his research, from cancer research to education in developing countries. He is a recipient of the Royal Society and Rutherford Research Fellowships.

Center for Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine, Inselspital

Prof. Matthias Wilhelm, Medical Director

Matthias Wilhelm is the Medical Director of the Centre for Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine at the Insel Group and an Associate Professor at the University of Bern. He is committed to advancing rehabilitation across clinical practice, research, and education. His research focuses on leveraging digital health technologies for patients with chronic conditions to enhance physical and mental well-being, promote healthy aging, and support social inclusion. He actively contributes to national and international research collaborations and core curricula development in this field.

MEDES - Institute for Space Physiology and Medicine / European Space Agency ESA

Dr. Jessica Studer, Medical Expert

Jessica Kehala Studer is a Swiss medical doctor and former professional pianist who spent a year in complete isolation at Concordia Station in Antarctica as part of the European Space Agency's "White Mars" mission. There, she conducted biomedical experiments on human physiology in extreme environments, contributing to research that prepares future deep space missions. With a background spanning classical music, biomedical sciences, and space medicine, she bridges science, exploration, and creativity to push the boundaries of human resilience on Earth and beyond.

Center for Health Sciences, Kansai Medical University, Japan

Prof. Yutaka Kimura, Professor

Yutaka Kimura is a Distinguished Professor and Director of the Health Science Center at Kansai Medical University Hospital. He has devoted his career to the advancement of cardiac rehabilitation and the preventive medicine. His research encompasses exercise cardiology, anti-aging medicine, behavioral medicine and the development of ICT-based health management. He also leads extensive collaborations with national and international partners, and serves as Chair of Exercise is Medicine Japan (EIM Japan), an official initiative founded by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) to promote physical activity as a vital component of healthcare.

La Trobe University, Australia

Prof. Kate Kitagawa, Professor of Practice in Space Research and Education

Kate Kitagawa is Professor of Practice in Space Research and Education at La Trobe University and Program Lead for Space Biology at the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science. Based in Melbourne, she has launched Aussie Space Rocks, an education initiative linking students, researchers, and industry across Australia and Japan. She previously served as Director of the Space Education Office at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and chaired the International Space Education Board at the 2023 International Astronautical Congress.

ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern

Prof. Dominik Obrist, Group Head of the Cardiovascular Engineering Group

Dominik Obrist is Professor of Cardiovascular Engineering at the ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research of the University of Bern. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from ETH Zurich and earned his doctoral degree in 2000 at the Department of Applied Mathematics of the University of Washington. From 2000 to 2005, he worked for the supercomputer company Cray Inc. In 2005, Dominik Obrist returned to academia as a senior researcher at the Institute of Fluid Dynamics of ETH Zurich, where he established a research group for biomedical fluid dynamics. His main research interests include the design of heart valve prostheses and the development of novel technology for the diagnosis and treatment of microvascular diseases.

Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern / Laboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel

Lisa Brandenburg, PhD Candidate

Lisa is a PhD candidate working at the interface of microbiology, physics, and astrobiology in the SenseLife project, where they develop spectropolarimetry techniques to detect biosignatures on other worlds. Her research focuses on photosynthetic microbes and the spectropolarimetric detection of biological pigments such as chlorophyll. With a background in molecular medicine and molecular life sciences, Lisa has worked on topics ranging from the causes of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) to the interactions between the gut microbiome and arsenic exposure. Today, her work in astrobiology combines diverse disciplines to address one of humanity's oldest questions: are we alone in the universe?