March 28, 2024

2024 Scholarship Winners Announced

The winners of the Mantri, AsMA International, Mohler, Davis, and Scarpa scholarships have been announced. 

Anita Mantri, Ph.D., Memorial Travel Scholarship

Nina Purvis is a junior doctor in the NHS with an interest in extreme environment physiology and health. Her interest in space medicine stems from her undergraduate and Master’s studies in Astrophysics (M.Phys.), which she has amalgamated with a Ph.D. in Cancer Research, studying medicine as a graduate-entry student (M.B.B.S.), and taking a year out to complete a second Master’s in Space Physiology and Health. She worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the United States before medical school. She is now completing her PGY-2 year, with a view to starting her next stage of training in summer 2024. 
   Dr. Purvis has completed the ESA Space Physician Training Course and UTMB PASM internship, being that year’s  Shaskan Scholarship winner. She is also a past winner of the Aerospace Speaker’s Travel Grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Space Medicine Association’s International Scholarship, and the Red Flower Vacation Scholarship. She has additionally won awards for research and presentations. She is currently Junior Chair Elect of the AsMA Associate Fellows Group and has contributed to AsMA and AMSRO over the past 6 years, including judging scholarships, publishing in AsMA’s journal, helping organize AMSRO elections, running a lecture series during COVID-19, and being an active member and mentor of the next generation of aerospace medicine.

AsMA International Aerospace Medical Scholarship
Dr. Anthony Rengel is a specialist general practitioner and designated aviation medical examiner from Perth, Western Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian College of Rural & Remote Medicine, a graduate of the Master of Aviation Medicine from the University of Otago and is currently completing his final semester of fellowship training with the Australasian College of Aerospace Medicine. He holds a Masters in Aviation Medicine from the University of Otago, a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Western Australia, and a B.Sc., also from the University of Western Australia.
   Having been flying since 15 years of age and holding a Commercial Pilot Licence, Anthony has combined a passion for remote health care and aviation into a career in aerospace medicine. This has included running fly-out general practice clinics in rural Western Australia, 8 years as an aviation medical examiner for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, and, in the last 3 years, as a specialist in aeromedical retrieval for the Royal Flying Doctor Service on a variety of fixed and rotary wing platforms. In 2023, Anthony was appointed as a reservist to the Royal Australian Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine in Adelaide. Recently, he accepted a position with the Australian Antarctic Division and will soon begin preparation to overwinter at Davis Station for the 2025 season. His long-term goal is to work in the space sector, leveraging his knowledge and experience to assist with the next generation of human exploration. Additionally, he wishes to continue active involvement in the training of the next generation of health and aerospace professionals.

Stanley R. Mohler, M.D., Aerospace Medicine Endowed Scholarship
Dora Babocs is a medical doctor with an aim to make surgical procedures a safe option for future deep-space missions. She is currently serving as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UTHealth’s Advanced Aortic Research Program. Her journey into the realms of medicine and space exploration began in Szeged, Hungary, where she embarked on her career as a General Surgery resident. Driven by a profound curiosity about the cosmos, she is concurrently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Astronomy and Planetary Science, just graduated as a space specialist in life sciences, and participated in ESA’s Space Physician Training 2023. She also plays an integral role in the Biomedical Engineering Group at the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), contributing her expertise to Mars analog missions. Additionally, she serves as a scholar-in-residence at iGAINT, European Representative of the International Outreach Committee at AMSRO, and as National Point of Contact for Hungary at the Space Generation Advisory Council, fostering international collaboration in space exploration.
   Dr. Babocs was also selected for the Forbes 30/30 list in 2024. She leads and participates in multiple international projects and activities related to space surgery and is an author or co-author of 3 peer-reviewed articles, 11 other articles, and 2 book chapters. In 2022, she was awarded the Keck Medicine of USC Travel Scholarship from the University of Szeged, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School, and won a Best Poster award in February 2024. She is a member of the American Society of Aerospace Medicine Specialists, the Space Surgery Association, the Aerospace Physiology Society, and the Aerospace Nursing and Allied Health Professionals Society. 

Jeffrey R. Davis, M.D., Aerospace Medicine Endowed Scholarship
Dr. Corey Morris is a native of McMinnville, TN, United States. He received his undergraduate education at Motlow State Community College and Tennessee Technological University. He worked for his local community college as an adjunct laboratory instructor and assistant director of new student services before being accepted to medical school. He completed his medical education at Lincoln Memorial University Debusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2022 and started his medical residency training at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital on July 1, 2022, where he is currently a second-year Family Medicine resident. He has a wide variety of interests, including rural primary medicine, osteopathic manipulative medicine, wound care/hyperbarics, and aviation/space medicine.
   Dr. Morris has served on the AMSRO executive board for two terms while a medical student and currently serves on the AsMA Communications Committee. He is a current board member of the American Osteopathic College of Occupational and Preventive Medicine representing resident physicians. He is also a member of the Civil Aviation Medical Association, the Aerospace Human Factors Association, the American College of Hyperbaric medicine, the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, and the American Osteopathic Association. When not at work in Kentucky, you can find him spending time with family in Tennessee, building models with Legos®, or watching action, comedy, or sci-fi movies.

Philip J. Scarpa, Jr., Aerospace Medicine Endowed Scholarship
Claudio Franc was born in the northwestern region of Romania, colloquially known as Transylvania, and immigrated to the United States with his mother when he was 5 years old. As a child, his favorite question to be asked was “what do you want to be when you grow up?” because that always gave him free reign to start talking about his favorite topic and how he has always dreamed of becoming an astronaut. From reading On the Shoulders of Giants by Stephen Hawking at a young age, to traveling to the Kennedy Space Center for his 10th birthday, his fascination with the field of space exploration is as boundless as the universe itself. He has travelled all over the globe and has lived in many states, but calls Louisiana his home. In 2019, he graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology from Southeastern Louisiana University, with minors in chemistry, history, and psychology. In 2021, he earned his Master of Business Administration degree from the same university before matriculating into medical school at St. George’s University, where he is currently enrolled as a third-year medical student.
   While being engaged in his clinical rotations in New York City, Claudio is also concurrently completing his Master of Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins University. Upon graduation next summer, he hopes to match into a general surgery residency and enlist in the U.S. Air Force with the dream of one day serving his country as a surgeon. He also has aspirations to further his knowledge and training by completing an aerospace medicine fellowship so that he may serve as a flight surgeon, with the aim of treating and preventing a variety of diseases not only here on Earth, but also, hopefully, among the stars. He is a member of the Thieme Group, where he is a Student Ambassador, and the Advocates for Safe Air Policy and Safe Air for Everyone, where he serves as a Council intern. He is a past winner of the Welch Scholarship from Johns Hopkins University and multiple awards from both St. George’s University and Southeastern Louisiana University.