[SatNews] "These two...greatly enhance our ability to attract and evaluate projects that will maximize use of Station and ultimately improve life on Earth.”

The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization managing research onboard the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory, today named renowned surgeon and researcher Timothy J. Yeatman, M.D., as CASIS Interim Chief Scientist. Additionally, Dr. Alan Stern, a planetary scientist, aerospace consultant, and former NASA executive, has been appointed CASIS Scientific Advisor. Doctors Yeatman and Stern will lead research initiatives for the organization.

“These two high-level appointments have brought world-class scientific expertise to CASIS,” said CASIS Interim Executive Director Jim Royston. “Doctors Yeatman and Stern greatly enhance our ability to attract and evaluate projects that will maximize use of Station and ultimately improve life on Earth.”

Dr. Yeatman brings more than 30 years of experience working with patients, research centers, multiple biotech companies and teaching institutions across the country. An early champion of personalized medicine and a pioneer in the field of genomics, Dr. Yeatman also serves as Professor of Surgery and Senior Member of Oncological Sciences at Moffitt Cancer Center, as well as Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He is also the former president and founding Chief Scientific Officer for M2Gen, a personalized medicine company.

Dr. Stern is a planetary scientist, aerospace consultant and author with more than 25 years of space science experience. Presently, he is Associate Vice President and Special Advisor to the President of the Southwest Research Institute, and has his own aerospace consulting practice. He also serves on the board of directors of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. Dr. Stern is the principal investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto and has developed eight scientific instruments for planetary and near-space research missions, including three that flew aboard the Space Shuttle. He was also NASA’s Associate Administrator leading the Science Mission Directorate in 2007 and 2008.

Over the past several months, Dr. Yeatman led a team of fellow scientists reviewing NASA experiments that have flown in Space. He will continue to build that team to assist him in his new job. Both Dr. Yeatman and Dr. Stern will work with CASIS management to identify, evaluate and prioritize research projects for the U.S. National Lab.