Shawna Pandya

Alberta Health Services, Foothills Medical Centre

Papers

Total Citations

202

H-Index

About

Shawna Pandya is a visionary physician-astronaut and researcher whose work sits at the intersection of space medicine, telemedicine, and advanced surgical robotics. Her most cited paper, "Designing Futuristic Telemedicine Using Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in the COVID-19 Era" (137 citations), showcases her ability to anticipate healthcare's future needs by assembling an international, interdisciplinary consortium to explore how AI and robotics can build pandemic response capacity. Earlier, Pandya made foundational contributions to neurosurgery with her work on the NeuroArm system, the first image-guided, MRI-compatible surgical robot capable of both microsurgery and stereotaxy (65 citations). This work demonstrated how robotics could extend human surgical precision. Beyond her published research, Pandya is a scientist-astronaut candidate with Project PoSSUM, a aquanaut with NASA’s NEEMO missions, and a sought-after speaker on innovation in healthcare. Her career uniquely bridges clinical medicine, space exploration, and cutting-edge technology, making her a compelling figure for students interested in how extreme environments—from the operating room to outer space—drive transformative medical solutions.