Academics – Oxford Academy

Meet Our Expert Academics

Oxford Academy of Excellence participants have the unique opportunity to study with a team of expert academics from world-leading universities. Our academic team members provide advisory into our course content, serve as guest lecturers and keep the Oxford Academy of Excellence team members abreast of the latest research in genomic, space medicine, AI and other related fields. Every year we are honoured to welcome several top academics and scientists to our team of advisors. Please meet some of them below.

Detina Zalli, Ph.D.

Genomic Medicine, AI and Leadership

Dr. Zalli, a senior academic in Genomic Medicine, has worked at esteemed institutions like Harvard University, the University of Oxford, and presently, at the University of Cambridge. She holds a PhD from the University of Leicester, conducted postdoctoral research at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and completed the NASA STAR program focused on designing spaceflight experiments.

At Harvard, Detina conducted research and directed various life sciences courses, earning the Dean’s Research Award for two years. Inspired by Barack Obama, she engaged in Harvard Professional Government activities and collaborated with the Harvard Business School to lead events such as the Harvard Leadership Conference.

Dr. Zalli’s academic focus spans genomic medicine, AI, entrepreneurship, and space genomics. Committed to supporting disadvantaged individuals, she’s organized STEM events through initiatives like Afer*Nova, We Speak Science, and Oxford Academy of Excellence for the past decade in collaboration with leading academics from leading institutions and industries such as MIT, Yale, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Virgin Galactic, NASA, SpaceX etc

Afshin Beheshti, PhD

Affiliation: Principal Investigator at Blue Marble Space Institute of Science Visiting Research at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
President of COVID-19 International Research Team (www.cov-irt.or)
President of Kwaai AI (www.kwaai.ai)

Dr. Beheshti earned his PhD in physics from Florida State University before transitioning to postdoctoral training in cancer, systems biology, space biology, and radiation biology. In 2014, he assumed the role of Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine/Tufts Medical Center, where his research as a systems biologist focused on diverse aspects of cancer, including microRNAs (miRNAs), aging and cancer, cancer drug targets, and the development of novel immunotherapy. In April 2017, Dr. Beheshti joined KBR at NASA Ames Research Center to contribute to the GeneLab project and aid in platform development. Currently, he manages his own grants, overseeing research in various domains such as the impact of miRNAs and mitochondria on space biology, potential applications for countermeasures against space radiation and microgravity, COVID-19-related studies, cancer research, and the effects of high altitude on human biology. In 2023, Dr. Beheshti transitioned to the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science at NASA Ames Research Center, where he continues his ongoing research. He also holds a Visiting Researcher appointment at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Moreover, Dr. Beheshti serves as the President of two non-profit organizations. One, formed in March 2020, is the COVID-19 International Research Team (COV-IRT, www.cov-irt.org), dedicated to various subjects related to COVID-19 and Long COVID research and has already produced several publications. The other, established in August 2023, focuses on democratizing access to artificial intelligence through the design, construction, and maintenance of a free Personal AI called Kwaai (www.kwaai.ai).

Dr. Beheshti’s contributions have earned him recognition and accolades, including the International Space Station Research & Development Award for Compelling Results in Biology from the American Astronaut Society/NASA, the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, One KBR Award, and the NASA Outstanding Service Award: NASA Ames Safety Award Program II.

Physician, Aquanaut, Explorer, Director - IIAS Space Medicine Group, Space Medicine and Austere Environment Researcher

Dr. Shawna Pandya is a physician, aquanaut, scientist-astronaut candidate with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), skydiver, pilot-in-training, VP Immersive Medicine with Luxsonic Technologies, and Director of IIAS’ Space Medicine Group. Dr. Pandya was on the first crew to test a commercial spacesuit in zero-gravity in 2015. She earned her aquanaut designation on the 2019 NEPTUNE (Nautical Experiments in Physiology, Technology and Underwater Exploration) mission, 2023 NEP2NE aquanaut mission. She served as Payload Crew and co-PI of the 2023 IIAS-01 suborbital research flight, as well as a PI and/or co-I for Ax-2, Polaris Dawn and Blue Origin payloads. Her publications include a paper on medical guidelines for commercial suborbital spaceflight, and book chapters on space technologies that have benefitted terrestrial medicine, psychological resilience in long-duration spaceflight, and reproduction and sexuality in long-duration spaceflight. In June 2022, her extreme medicine work took her to Poland and Ukraine to work with persons affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2021, she was granted an Honorary Fellowship in Extreme and Wilderness Medicine and named to the Canadian Women’s Executive Network’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women. Her work is permanently exhibited at the Ontario Science Center alongside Dr. Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian woman in space. In 2022, Dr. Pandya was awarded the Explorers’ Club’s “50 Explorers Changing the World,” and in 2023, named to SustainabilityX Magazine’s “Global 50 Women in Sustainability,” for her work in Social Inclusion. In 2024, she was inducted as a full member of the International Astronautical Federation’s Human Spaceflight Committee, and joined Sunwest Aeromedical as a flight physician. Her work has been profiled by Nature and the Royal Canadian Mint.

Jean Huang, Harvard University and Yale University

Jean Huang is a biomedical engineer conducting research and writing her doctoral dissertation at Yale University. With a BA from Harvard University and a scientist by trade, she is also immersed in art and writing. Her research focuses on medical imaging analysis of the brain.”