Dr. Thomas J. Goodwin PhD

Research Scientist · Tissue Bioengineering · Space Life Sciences

Dr. Thomas J. Goodwin is Honorary President of the European Society for Translational Medicine and a distinguished research scientist whose career sits at the frontier of cell physiology and organ-tissue bioengineering. He has served as Manager of the Disease Modeling and Tissue Analogues Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center and as Lead Scientist for the Oxidative Stress and Damage research discipline.

Alongside his work at NASA, Dr. Goodwin holds adjunct appointments at the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston (Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery) and the University of Houston (Department of Health and Human Performance), and is an adjunct scientist at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute and the Southwest National Primate Research Center, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

His research focuses on the development of ex vivo physiological three-dimensional systems and the three-dimensional biology of human and animal cells. These complex, recapitulated tissues serve as surrogates for the study of tumour physiology, viral and bacterial infectivity, and genomic responses to chemical, physical, and environmental stimuli — including the microgravity environment of spaceflight — and as platforms for exploring man–machine interfaces.

Dr. Goodwin has authored or co-authored more than forty peer-reviewed articles and two book chapters on three-dimensional biology, has been granted twenty US patents, and has earned over sixty scientific, technical, and performance awards during his time at NASA. His recent work includes co-authorship of studies on personalised medicine in human spaceflight and on three-dimensional models of persistent viral infection.

Dr. Goodwin serves on the EUSTM Executive Board, which directs the Society’s strategy, scientific programmes, and international activities.