Dr. Marc Ó Gríofa received his medical degree from University College Dublin and his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Limerick. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine, a Fellow of the Faculty of Sports Exercise Medicine from the Royal Irish College of Physicians and Surgeons and the principal investigator for Project CASPER which flew onboard the International Space Station as part of the Astrolab mission. He spent four years at Kennedy Space Center as a triage physician and engineer working on the Space Shuttle program. He is a NOAA trained diving medical officer (DMO), Aquanaut, diver and senior researcher/engineer for the NASA NEEMO program onboard the Aquarius Undersea Habitat while also being the faculty dive medicine lead faculty for World Extreme Medicine.
During the COVID-19 pandemic Dr. Ó Gríofa became medical director for the Las Vegas Iso-Q facility (Isolation/Quarantine), which is a 500 bed pre-hospital acute observation site for the city’s homeless population and is establishing a follow-on long-term homeless respite medical care center. He is also deploying a number of biomedical technology and telehealth solutions for chronic medical conditions, is the chief medical officer for the world’s first virtual medical center solution and is pioneering a genetic solution for incurable diseases like Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy.
He is also an operational tactical physician and medic for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) SWAT Team and the Team 5 Foundation, a consultant for various teams and organizations worldwide and has 10 plus years of experience as a joint trauma and tactical medicine instructor training physicians, medical personnel and Special Operations Forces (SOF) teams for combat and austere environments worldwide. He is a search and rescue diver and the President of the United States largest volunteer search and rescue team (Red Rock Search & Rescue) and as a director and founder of the Pyxis Institute is passionate about promoting STEM education across all barriers using a mission-based approach and while pursuing research and sex and gender differences in science, technology and medicine as an advisory board member for the iGIANT organization.
