Age: 37
Occupation: Clinical Scientist; Analog Astronaut
Growing up in rural Morocco, Nadia Maarouf’s father would tell her that she could do anything with the right education. “I was lucky to be born to a very rare feminist father who provided me with the freedom to pursue my education and follow my dreams,” she says.
After high school, Maarouf moved to England to study biomedicine as an undergrad, and then to Scotland for a master’s in clinical pharmacology. In 2010, her father had a heart attack and died two years later. Her taekwondo mentor, who she’d studied with since childhood, and who was like a second father to her, also passed away of heart disease months before her father. Following their deaths, Maarouf decided to focus on cardiovascular diseases. Her work as a doctoral student at the University of Calgary helped develop a vaccine for atherosclerosis, a condition that results when arteries become clogged with plaque.
In 2020, her research caught the attention of astronaut Robert Thirsk, who helped connect her with the Canadian Space Agency. Space travel affects the bodies of astronauts, rapidly aging the heart, and scientists believe that solving the cardiac issues associated with space travel is a step towards preventing and curing heart disease on earth. “Space research has access to the best technologies. We can use that to find solutions to one of the world’s leading causes of death,” she says.
Maarouf became an analog astronaut — a scientist who does testing on earth in locations similar to space environments. She has been on missions in Hawaii and Utah, monitoring and reporting on astronauts’ health and studying technology that may be used for future space missions (and in remote communities where residents lack access to health care).
Maarouf is also a mountaineer, ice diver and caver, and a member of the Rotary Club of Calgary. “I hope that my example will inspire more parents to give their daughters and sons opportunities for equal access to education,” she says.
Thank yous
“My partner/best friend Graham Stevens; my mother Zahra and late father Benaissa and my five brothers; Dr. Robert Thirsk for sparking my interest in Space Medicine; Dr. Alain Tremblay and Dr. Todd Anderson for their mentorship; and my mountaineering/diving partners: Glen Kwan, Steve Boisvert, Sabrina Figliomeni and Bernice Santos.”
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