Alert Diver Category: Researcher Profile

PETAR DENOBLE, MD, D.SC., HAS DEDICATED HIS CAREER to exploring and solving practical issues in dive medicine.

OSKAR FRANBERG LEADS THE RESEARCH GROUP in marine systems engineering at the Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden, and is managing director of the Swedish National Underwater Technology Center. This father of three is an engineer by training and has been active in dive research, especially rebreather physiology, for more than 20 years.

FISHING AND BEING ON THE WATER with family while growing up influenced Michael Lombardi to study marine biology. He and a friend got certified to dive during his junior year of high school, thinking it would be a useful tool for his desired field. Lombardi had no idea what professional diving meant or where it would take him.

Melissa Ilardo, PhD, is passionate about working in the distinct field of genetic analyses on individuals, primarily in Indigenous populations who have adapted to unique lifestyles or environments.

Pieter-Jan van Ooij, MD, PhD, is the head of the Department of Research, Innovation, and Education at the Royal Netherlands Navy’s Diving Medical Centre (DMC).

Born in Uruguay in 1982, Alejandro Garbino, MD, PhD, has been fascinated with air and sea since he was young. His passion for the air stemmed from an uncle who flew banner airplanes along the beach.

Known for her work in developing sophisticated algorithms and methods for managing and coordinating complex systems, Silvia Ferrari has applied her expertise to integrating scuba diving technology with robotic systems.

In 2021 Peter Buzzacott, PhD, of  Curtin University in Perth, Australia, received DAN’s Alfred Bove Research Grant for Cardiac Health in Scuba Diving. What began with a simple proposal has since developed into a training network for the next generation of scientists and led to a research network between Curtin University and Fiona Stanley Hospital in Western Australia. 

The Center for Research and Education in Special Environments (CRESE) at the University at Buffalo in New York is at the forefront of environmental physiology research, investigating how various environmental stressors impact human health and performance.