My name is Dominic Tanzillo and I am a Medical Student at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Bioastronautics (the formal name for Space Medicine) encompasses a range of medical, psychosocial, and engineering disciplines to safely place human beings outside of Earth’s atmosphere and preserve their health. I have co-created an introductory online course and podcast for the field.

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Skills

Biostatistics

Extended Reality

Medical Education

Systems Engineer

Experience

Recent Research Projects and Technical Work

 
 
 
 
 

Software Developer

Tietronix Medical, Inc

Jun 2021 – Present Houston, Texas
  • Working on a variety of NASA, Air Force, and hospital contracts to understand and protect human health in extreme environments.
  • Creating instructions and gestures in augmented reality for autonomous deep space imaging and surgery medical procedures.
  • Mapped earth and space communications as a systems engineer for NASA’s Flight Operations Directorate.
  • Modeled human physiology and response to high energy stimuli for the US Armed Forces' Tri-Service Research Laboratory.
 
 
 
 
 

Volunteer Researcher

NASA Neutral Buoyancy Lab

Jun 2021 – Aug 2022 Houston, Texas
  • Shadowed hyperbaric physicians and critical care anesthesiologists.
  • Investigated cause of decompression illness in otherwise healthy pilots undergoing hypobaric conditions.
  • Paper currently under internal NASA review, slated for late 2023 publication.
 
 
 
 
 

Undergraduate Space Research Associate

NASA Johnson Space Center

Jan 2020 – Aug 2020 Houston, Texas
  • Built machine learning models to predict USAF pilot learning and performance.
  • Ran flight simulations to test biometric data collection.
  • Ran statistical tests and preprocessed data to determine salient biomarkers.
  • Developed MATLAB and Python scripts to use EEG data to remotely control an RC car.
 
 
 
 
 

Undergraduate Researcher

UCSF and SF VA, Departments of Nuerosurgery

May 2017 – Jun 2018 San Francisco, California
  • Investigated error rate in medical software used to fuse CT and MRI scans.

  • Shadowed surgeries for the implantation of Deep Brain Stimulation devices.

  • Published in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery.

Publications

Papers, Writings, and Presentations

Duke School of Medicine Feature

  • School of Medicine Article focusing on the various educational programs developed by my co-instructor and me

Paper: Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery

  • Second named author on paper quantifying error in software frequently used in merging CT and MRI scans
  • Full publication title: “CT and MRI image fusion error: an analysis of co-registration error using commercially available deep brain stimulation surgical planning software”

Article: Via Satellite

  • Opinion article detailing Space Force’s ability to protect humanity’s future in space

Podcast: On-Orbit

  • Effort to increase public awareness of the the field of space medicine

Contact

Connect with me