Dr. Beth Healey is an Emergency Medicine doctor and has worked for several years in the NHS and various international settings. Fluent in French, this has included providing pre-hospital medical care in the Swiss Alps. As part of medical and logistical support teams, she has worked in several extreme and remote environments including Svalbard, Siberia, Greenland, and the North Pole.
As research MD for the European Space Agency (ESA) she overwintered in Antarctica at spaceflight analog ‘Concordia’, otherwise known as ’White Mars’. There, she researched the effects of isolation and extreme environments on the physiology and psychology of the crew. During the winter due to the low temperatures (-80C) and long polar nights (105 days without any sunlight), they were completely isolated even in an emergency. This research has been used to help inform space agencies of the challenges future astronauts on long-duration spaceflight missions may face as well as develop medical models required for such missions. She also participated in an overland traverse, driving a Caterpillar tractor 1,200 km across the Antarctic plateau. Since returning she has contributed to a Space and Global Health UN specialist interest group considering how we can use space-derived technology to solve medical problems, including life support systems, telemedicine, and remote diagnostics.
During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, she has drawn on her personal experience and research into isolation to share advice and coping strategies to help reduce anxiety during governmental lockdowns and self-isolation.
