IAASM
Dr David Gradwell (UK) - Chair / Past-President
Professor David Gradwell is the immediate Past-President of the International Academy of Aviation & Space Medicine. He is also a Past President of the Aerospace Medical Association, the first British physician to have held both posts.
David served as a senior medical officer in the Royal Air Force and there held appointments as the Consultant Adviser in Aviation Medicine and Whittingham Professor of Aviation Medicine. After almost 30 years in the RAF he retired from the service to take up the post of Professor of Aerospace Medicine at King’s College London where, among other activities, he directed the Diploma in Aviation Medicine course for UK and international doctors as well as establishing a specialist NHS aeromedical clinic at St Thomas’ Hospital, London.
David initiated the establishment of the national training programme for future UK specialists in Aviation & Space Medicine, under the direction of the UK General Medical Council. He is the senior editor of Ernsting’s Aviation & Space Medicine, the UK’s standard aeromedical textbook, now in its sixth edition, and is the Emeritus Professor Aerospace Medicine at King’s.
Dr Melchor Antunano, M.D., M.S., FAsMA, FAsHFA (USA)
Dr. Antuñano was born in Mexico City and is a graduate of the National Autonomous University of Mexico School of Medicine. He completed the Residency in Aerospace Medicine at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He was a post-doctoral researcher with the U.S. National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences at the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine. He is the Director of the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) in Oklahoma City. He is credited with 930 professional presentations at national and international conferences in aerospace medicine in 41 countries, and with 65 scientific publications.
He is Past-President of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine, the U.S. Aerospace Medical Association, the U.S. Space Medicine Association, and the Iberoamerican Association of Aerospace Medicine.
He is a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association and the Aerospace Human Factors Association. He is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He is Honorary Member of the Austrian, Brazilian, Colombian, Greek, Mexican, Peruvian, Slovanian and Turkish Societies of Aviation/Aerospace Medicine.
He is a faculty member at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and the National University of Colombia School of Medicine. He has received 85 awards and recognitions for his academic, administrative, and research achievements. He has experience as private pilot, parachutist and scuba diver.
Dr Jim Vanderploeg (USA) - Past-President
Dr. James Vanderploeg is Past-President of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine, a Past President of the Aerospace Medical Association, and is Board Certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in both Aerospace Medicine and Occupational Medicine. He has numerous publications, including medical results from research using centrifuge exposure to simulate the G forces of a suborbital space flight.
Dr. Vanderploeg has over 40 years of experience in aerospace medicine with a career spanning medical support for the NASA Space Shuttle program, serving as Chief Medical Officer and now Senior Medical Advisor for Virgin Galactic, and the clinical practice of civilian aviation medicine. He is Adjunct Professor of Aerospace Medicine in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.
His previous work included Executive Director and Principal Investigator on multiple research projects of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation; evaluation of airline pilots seeking special issuance authorization for medical certification following recovery from medical or psychological problems; and training physicians in the specialty of aerospace medicine. As Virgin Galactic’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Vanderploeg was responsible for developing and implementing the medical programs for spaceflight participants, Virgin Galactic pilots, and other employees. Most recently he has advised Virgin Galactic in the response to COVID-19 including the use of virus and antibody testing to help return employees safely to the work site.
Dr Francisco Rios Tejada (Spain) - President
Francisco Rios Tejada, has 40 years of experience in Aerospace Medicine. He is specialist in Respiratory Medicine and Hyperbaric Medicine.
He is currently consultant in Aerospace Medicine for the Spanish Civil Aviation Authority (AESA), and retired Chief Medical Assessor of AESA.
He got retired fron the Spanish Military Medical Corp as Col. Med. Director of the Spanish Air Force Aeromedical Center, where he spent most of his military career. Former Associate Professor at Complutense and San Pablo CEU University of Madrid.
He is Past President of the Spanish Society of Aviation Medicine and Iberoamerican Association of Aerospace Medicine. Currently 1st Vice-President of ESAM, Fellow of AsMA 1997 and IAASM Academician from 1996.
Dr Sally Evans, MBE, MBBS, FRCP, FFOM, DAvMed, FAsMA, FRAeS (UK) - President-Elect
Dr Evans worked for the NHS and British Airways prior to moving to the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 1993. She was the CAA’s Chief Medical Officer between 2005 and 2019, subsequently working as a CAA Consultant Advisor. She chaired the group that drafted the European Union aviation medical requirements and was the founder and Chair of the European Aviation Medical Assessors’ Council.
In 2015 she was a member of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Task Force on Measures Following the Accident of Germanwings Flight 9525. She was awarded the MBE in 2018 for services to aviation medicine.
Dr Evans is the President-Elect of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine.
International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine
Copyright © 2026 International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy policy