2005 - Dr. Smith L. Johnston, III
Medical Officer and Flight Surgeon, NASA Johnson Space Center
"Aerospace Medicine"
Dr. Smith Johnston is from Woodstock, Georgia. He received his Bachelor of Science in biology in 1976 and his Doctor of Medicine in 1981 from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Johnston completed his residencies in Internal and Aerospace Medicine from Wright State University, where he received his Masters of Science in Aerospace Medicine. Dr. Johnston is currently a Medical Officer and Flight Surgeon for NASA Medical Operations Branch of the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He is responsible for the medical care of the Astronaut Corps and dependents, and for the mission support of NASA’s Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) programs. He has been the lead physician for the ISS Emergency Crew Return Vehicle development and the unfortunate STS-107 Columbia mission.
Dr. Johnston is a member of the Clinical Faculties at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Dept. of Preventive, Occupational and Environmental Medicine in Galveston, Texas and Wright State University, Department of Aerospace Medicine at Dayton, Ohio. He is Medical Director for Injury Reduction Technology, Inc., INRTEK, Myrtle Beach, SC and also serves on the Advisory and Oversight Committees for the National Science Foundation’s American Polar Medicine Program, Washington, DC. Dr. Johnston has held staff positions with the Veterans Administration Medical Center Emergency Department and Dept of Internal Medicine, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Inc., in Houston, Texas.
In addition to over 50 scientific presentations and publications, Dr. Johnston is the recipient of numerous awards including the NASA Group Achievement Awards for Crew Health Care Systems and X- 38 Development, the NASA Space and Life Science Performance Award for Excellence in Assigned Duties, and the NASA Superior Service Award. He has been a finalist for Astronaut Candidate Selection in 1998 and 2000. Dr. Johnston is Board Certified in Aerospace Medicine from the American Board of Preventive Medicine and was recently elected President of the Space Medicine Branch and Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association.
