Jim Pawelczyk (USA)

Jim Pawelczyk (PhD) is Associate Professor of Physiology, Kinesiology and Medicine at Pennsylvania State University where he conducts research and leads a graduate education program in Clinical and Translational Science.

Both personally and professionally Jim is a long-time aquatic enthusiast. As a swimmer, collaborator, and friend of Bill Boomer for more than 40 years, Jim applies a broad sports science perspective to Boomer’s unique understanding of aquatic engagement.

Jim’s research focuses on the dynamic regulation of blood pressure, and how disuse atrophy affects blood pressure regulation. The condition is routinely observed following spaceflight, which Jim has studied for more than 30 years. In 1995 he was selected as a Payload Specialist for the STS-90 Neurolab space shuttle mission. He flew aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1998, circling the earth 256 times logging 16 days and 6.4 million miles in space. During this mission the crew conducted neuroscience experiments that addressed changes in the development of the nervous system, balance, blood pressure regulation, sleep, and control movement during spaceflight.

Jim assists the formation of U.S. space life sciences strategy. He has testified before the United States Congress, served on NASA’s Advisory Councils for Human Exploration and Biological Research, the National Research Council’s Committee on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, and the National Academy of Medicine’s Committee on Aerospace Medicine and Extreme Environments. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, the manager of the International Space Station National Laboratory.