Donya Naz Divsalar
Donya obtained her BSc. Honours degree from Simon Fraser University in Health Sciences in 2019 and her Master of Sciences degree with the Aerospace Physiology Laboratory at SFU. Prior to immigrating to Canada in 2014, Donya attended Debrecen Medical School in Hungary.
Donya is currently a human factors engineering specialist at Airbus and the co-founder and CEO of Caidin Biotechnologies, a Canadian start-up that aims to improve human health and performance in space through biomedical advancements. In 2022, she was awarded the Elsie McGill rising star award by Northern Lights Aero Foundation for her ongoing contributions to the Canadian aerospace industry in medicine, education, and entrepreneurship. Most recently, Donya was selected as one of the top 20 under 35 and received the Promise award by Space and Satellite Professionals International for her work in forwarding human health in space through entrepreneurial and scientific research efforts.
Donya is an ambassador for the Canadian Space Agency as well as the founder of SFU Aerospace; an organization that bridges the gaps in education, technology and entrepreneurship and aims to provide technical aerospace education to non-technical students.
Donya also spends her time as the science lead and payload developer of SFU Satellite Design team to bring science and CubeSat technology together by designing unique biomedical payloads. She is currently working on ALEASAT, a 1U CubeSat that is projected to launch in 2023. In 2019, Donya was selected as one of the top 25 under 25 winners of Surrey Board of Trade for her work in fostering aerospace on the west coast of Canada.
Donya’s academic and professional work focus on the effects of microgravity on physiological responses in the human body. She has previously partaken and lead multiple space health projects supported by the Canadian Space Agency and European Space Agency. She has extensively studied bedrest as an analog for space, as well as the role of centrifugation-induced artificial gravity in mitigation of physiological downsides of long-term spaceflight. Her work will directly contribute to preserving and improving astronaut health during Lunar and Martian missions and deep space exploration.