Marlene Grenon, MDCM, MMSc, FRCSC

Research Scholar

Marlene was born in Quebec, Canada. She obtained a diploma in space sciences from the International Space University (ISU) in 1998. She graduated from McGill Medical School and obtained a Masters’ degree from the Scholars in Clinical Science Program of Harvard Medical School. She then completed training in cardiac surgery at McGill University, vascular surgery at the University of British Columbia and endovascular surgery at the Arizona Heart Institute.

Her published work in cardiovascular physiology and aerospace medicine continues to have an important impact on the cardiovascular health of astronauts. Using new methods developed at MIT where she completed a research fellowship, her team demonstrated an increased risk for cardiac dysrhythmias during simulations of microgravity and has evaluated potential countermeasures for cardiovascular deconditioning. The research she has been involved in will facilitate safer space travel and lead to new developments that can eventually benefit terrestrial medicine.

Having reached the very final stages as one of the five remaining women of the Canadian Astronaut Selection in 2009, Marlene decided to postpone her astronaut calling in order to continue her dual surgery and space medicine research tracks. She has joined the Hughes-Fulford Lab and will start shortly her clinical duties at the VA and UCSF as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery.