Dr. Shawna Pandya is the VP of Immersive Medicine with Luxsonic Technologies, as well as a physician, aquanaut, speaker, martial artist, advanced diver, skydiver, pilot-in-training, scientist-astronaut candidate with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences, and Fellow of the Explorers’ Club. As the VP of Immersive Medicine with Luxsonic Technologies, Dr. Pandya helps grow Luxsonic’s Health Canada- approved Virtual Imaging Platform, including the world’s first digital twin of a radiology reading room, used for diagnostics and education, and the company’s Mixed Reality Point of Care Ultrasound Platform. She also leads the development of Luxsonic’s CareGiVR platform, which leverages 360 video and augmented reality to provide education, training and certification for healthcare providers. CareGiVR has previously developed virtual reality modules for the Canadian Space Agency to provide medical education and training to astronauts on long-duration missions.

She holds degrees in neuroscience (BSc Hons. Neuroscience, University of Alberta), space (MSc Space Studies, International Space University), and medicine (MD, University of Alberta). In 2022, Dr. Pandya was named to the Explorers’ Club’s “50 Explorers Changing the World,” for her work in space medicine and extreme environments. and in 2024, she was nominated to the Women’s Space Awards in the Medicine and Health category. In 2024, she was further inducted as a full member of the International Astronautical Federation’s Human Spaceflight Committee, and became an aeromedical flight physician. Her work has been profiled by Nature and the Royal Canadian Mint.