Dirk Neefs, MSD
ESA Topical Team Moderator on Dental Guidelines for Astronauts on long-term Missions.
Co-Lead of the AWG subgroup on Oral Microbiome of NASA Gene Labs
Guest Lecturer at the University of Milan (UNIMI) and Rome (UNICAMILLUS)
Dirk is leading various ongoing projects in Oral Health Space research and is participating in the Global Education Certificate Space Biomedicine Program created by Afshin Beheshti, PhD, at the Center of Space Biomedicine at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also a member of the Space and Global Health Network from the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), particularly the Space and Global Health Curriculum Taskforce.
Dirk is also member of the International Association of Aerospace Dentistry and the SEREN research Association.
He is one of the founding members of the European Institute of Oral and Systemic Health in Space.
His main Objective is to highlight the importance of Oral and Dental Health during long-term Space Missions.
Affiliation: Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Milan, 20129 Milan, Italy
Most Important publications (total of 12):
- Del Fabbro M, Khijmatgar S, Vandenberghe B, et al. Oral Health of Astronauts in Short- and Long-Term Missions in Space. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2025;96(2):168-179. doi:10.3357/AMHP.6372.2025
- Baxter KJ, Sas E, Clark KB, et al. Biofilms: from the cradle of life to life support. NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 2026;12(1):11. Published 2026 Jan 22. doi:10.1038/s41522-025-00875-8
- Farronato M, Tadakamadla SK, Ali Quadri MF, et al. A Call for Action to Safely Deliver Oral Health Care during and Post COVID-19 Pandemic. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(18):6704. Published 2020 Sep 15. doi:10.3390/ijerph17186704
- Trovao, N. S., Lucaci, A. G., Pradeep, N., Sethi, M., Bono, L. M., Singh, R. S., Clark, K. B., Zaksas, V., Burke, M., Caicedo, A., Castañeda, V., Zambrano, K., Karim, R., Theriot, C. A., Otkiran, G., Neefs, D., Isola, G., Tartaglia, G., Schotsaert, M., … Wurtele, E. S. (2025). Viral evolution in the cosmos. In E. Waisberg, J. Ong, & A. G. Lee (Eds.), Fundamentals of Space Medicine and Clinical Technology (pp. 67-96). AcademicPress. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-32904-3.00009-1
Contact: info@dirkneefs.com