Kevin Fong is a medical doctor with a special interest in space medicine and extreme environments, particularly the medical and physiological challenges of long duration human space missions. He holds degrees in Astrophysics and Medicine from University College London, a degree in Astronautics and Space Engineering from Cranfield University and has completed space medical training rotations at Johnson Space Center, Houston and Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral.
Kevin has worked with research groups and senior figures at ESA in the past, organising and chairing a number of key meetings whose goal was to develop a strategy to further UK involvement in human space flight. He also took part in the European Science Foundation’s evaluation of the ELiPS programme, ESA’s life and physical sciences programme aboard the International Space Station.
In the United States Kevin has worked closely with NASA’s Human Adaptation and Countermeasures Office, forming part of their artificial gravity pilot study team. He has also worked as part of the team developing medical procedures for the X-38 Assured Crew Return Vehicle (ACRV ) – a spacecraft that was once set to become the world’s first space ambulance. Kevin has close links with ESA and NASA’s human space exploration programmes – including space life scientists and astronauts past and present – and has worked alongside the British National Space Centre and the UK Space Agency campaigning for further British involvement in human space flight.
In 2000 Kevin founded the Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme environment physiology (CASE) at University College London (UCL). This group looks at the challenges of protecting life when challenged by the extremes of illness, injury and the environment. In the same year he launched the UK’s first undergraduate course in extreme environment physiology at UCL which he continues to organise and teach on today.
As a practising NHS doctor, Kevin is a Consultant in Anaesthesia at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a flying doctor with the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance Trust.
Kevin is as passionate about science communication as he is about human space exploration. He was one of the inaugural Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Fellows and is currently Honorary Professor of Public Engagement for Science and Medicine at UCL.
Kevin is also a science broadcaster and author. He has numerous BBC documentaries including; Space Shuttle: The Final Mission (2011), Mars: A Horizon Guide (2009) and Blink: A Horizon Guide to the Senses (2012). He is the author of Extreme Medicine: Life, Death and the Limits of the Human Body (2013).
Kevin grew up in South Harrow, north London and attended St Anselm’s primary school, Salvatorian College and Greenhill Tertiary College. He now lives in Brixton with his wife Dee and two sons aged 9 and 7.
This page was last updated on 11 January 2022.
