Space Health Nexus

Billy Almon harnesses nature’s hidden wonders to create groundbreaking solutions that elevate the human experience—on Earth and beyond. His Dream and Adapt Framework gives leaders, educators, and creators tools to think more boldly, adapt smartly, and thrive by applying biology-inspired strategies to tackle complex challenges. Come learn how Billy inspires inventors, designers, scientists, STEM educators, and engineers to shape the future they envision. His work integrates psychology, empathetic speculative design, and storytelling to uncover nature’s deep insights and hidden innovations—showing how bold ideas can become practical solutions. Billy co-hosts Little Giants on Animal Planet and Discovery Plus, where he uses his expertise in biomimicry—a nature-inspired design process at the heart of his work. Billy has served as a creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, creating new immersive experiences for Disney’s global audiences. An inventor and thought leader, Billy holds a Master’s in Biomimicry from Arizona State University and a Bachelor’s in Architecture from Howard University.

Ashley attended the College of Holy Cross for two years where she played division 1 basketball on a full scholarship. She then hung up her sneakers and transferred to NYU where she graduated with a double major in Chinese and International Politics while working in public relations for the New York Rangers. Along with her husband Ernesto, they created a campaign called SNAP-2-LIVE to fight road crashes which is the #1 killer of youth. They partnered with the UN foundation, FIA foundation and many youth organizations… this campaign reached over 5 million people. Together with Ernesto, she also co-created the CanWe app—an app that helps people form connection and meaning in their life, as well as improve their health through community. Ashley is passionate about health, family and friendships, sports and making the world a better place.

Ernesto’s parents inspired him to make this world a better place. Shortly after obtaining a double major in civil engineering and architectural engineering from the University of Miami, Ernesto and his brother created an internationally-recognized initiative to build entire housing communities that offered a variety of uplifting and empowering opportunities including helping residents financing their way to homeownership and providing education, employment, safety, sports, and entrepreneurship programs. Ernesto calls it a NOT-ONLY FOR PROFIT model. Ernesto and his team have helped change the lives of 15,000 people in Honduras and Panama during the last 20 years. In 2023, continuing with the NOT-ONLY FOR PROFIT approach to business, Ernesto his wife Ashley co-founded the CanWe app. CanWe is a new category of app called SOCIAL NAVIGATION; it helps create in-person relationships curated by interests and intentions. Building communities with win/win models is Ernesto’s calling.

Dr. Barnes is an expert in austere nursing. A Former US Army Green Beret, he has 30+ years of nursing experience around the world. He has developed and continues to develop courses in providing nursing care in extreme environments. Dr. Barnes is currently a Clinical Associate Professor for Texas A&M University as Coordinator for the Aerospace and Extreme Environment Nursing Program at Texas A&M. 

Dr. Castulik comes to us from the Czech Republic. He is an expert in the detection, identification, decontamination, protection, and defense against chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive materials (CBRNE) as well as weapons of mass destruction. His expertise includes crisis and emergency management during CBRNE events, the training and education of first responders for CBRNE and hazardous materials (HazMat) incidents, medical countermeasures and intervention during CBRNE scenarios, and forensic investigation of such events. Dr. Castulik served as the Director of the R&D Division of NBC (nuclear, biological, and chemical) Defense at the Military Research Institute. He was also an Inspector for the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM), focusing on the inventory and destruction of weapons of mass destruction stockpiles. Dr. Castulik earned his degree at the Military Academy in Brno, Czech Republic, specializing in chemical technology and protection against NBC weapons. His PhD is in NBC defense, with a focus on decontamination.

Dr. Cherwek received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and his medical degree from Duke University. After his transitional year at Scripps Hospital, he completed his ophthalmology residency at Emory University, where he was elected Chief Resident. Immediately upon graduating from Emory, Hunter joined Orbis International, where he was able to lecture and work in over 20 countries aboard the Flying Eye Hospital and help build the organization’s award-winning telemedicine platform, Cybersight. Dr. Cherwek left Orbis International for six years to work with Alcon as the Medical Director of Strategic Markets and was based in Beijing, China. There, he help improve surgical training efforts and access to quality cataract care in Asia and Russia. Most recently, Dr. Cherwek has returned to Orbis International to continue to support its clinical training efforts and patient care programs.

With 5+ years of experience in human-centered design, AI systems, physiological signals, and biomechanics, Erikson has managed $5M+ in DoD and commercial research funding. Her projects include wearable system for heat stress monitoring, non-contact vitals monitoring system for senior living, and AI agent system for research. She also has 3 years of experience in design control for FDA regulated systems at Medtronic and GE Healthcare. She holds an MS in industrial and systems engineering and a BS in biomedical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Yvette Gonzalez is a Visiting Researcher at the University of Plymouth (UoP) Faculty of Health and is a Spaceflight and Bioastronautics Researcher. She is an External Collaborator with the Space Omics and Medical Atlas team and is a member of two Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) Analysis Working Groups: Multi-Omics and Female Reproduction. In 2023 she served as Research Lead and Crew for the first-ever space research caving analog in Portugal supporting a suite of human health experiments for the UoP Dental School, Centre for Eyecare Excellence, and Brain Research & Imaging Centre. In addition to annual parabolic flight campaign research, her space medical investigations include contributions to neuroscience and ophthalmologic team experiments on the Axiom-2, Polaris Dawn, and Galactic 05 spaceflight missions. In 2024 her international neuroscience team published their book, Neuroscience Research in Short-Duration Human Spaceflight. Yvette is pioneering research in applied space medical solutions for humanity and progresses this work within the context of international emergency public health, astronaut health, space ecology, and astronautics. She is certified with the NASA CITI Biomedical Research Basic/Refresher Course – Human Subjects Research (August 2022 – August 2025) and certified with UoP General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Information Security.

Dr. Haddad is a dedicated nurse leader with 30+ years of nursing experience. She is currently serving as a clinical professor and executive associate dean at Texas A&M College of Nursing. Dr. Haddad has a proven track record in addressing critical healthcare challenges. Her experience includes tackling the nursing shortage through innovative recruitment strategies and expanding clinical preceptor networks to enhance practical training opportunities. She has been instrumental in developing and streamlining educational pathways, successfully designing, and implementing programs that support student success while meeting workforce demands. She has succeeded in growing nursing programs and fostering partnerships to ensure quality education and patient care. She is currently overseeing the development of Aerospace and Extreme Environment Nursing Program.

Dr. Harris is the founding Chief of the Massachusetts General Hospital SPEAR (SPace, Ecological, Arctic, and Resource-limited) Med Division. He’s also the founding Director of the MGH Wilderness Medicine Fellowship (2008) and the MGH Space Medicine Fellowship (2021). Dr. Harris serves as an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School and is faculty at the Arctic Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is a full-time attending physician in the MGH Emergency Department. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicine, 8th Edition: Resource-limited medicine under austere conditions. Dr. Harris’s research has focused on acute high-altitude pathophysiology and on pioneering ultrasound imaging in austere locations (think, Everest area, Denali, and Kilimanjaro with the U.S. Army Institute for Environmental Medicine). He is a founding member of the Space Medicine Fellowship Council and is a former firefighter and EMT. Dr. Harris serves as Chair of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Board of Trustees. NOLS is a leader in wilderness education, offering courses that teach outdoor skills and leadership.