Women Scientist of the Month November 2024 – Prof. Dr. Claudia Stern
Silja Klemenz/TU Braunschweig
- Prof. Dr. Claudia Stern was awarded ‘DLR Women Scientist of the Month November 2024’
- Aims of the network "DLR Women+ in Science & Technology” are to increase the proportion of women and gender minorities (women+) at DLR
Prof. Dr Claudia Stern, head of department and flight surgeon in the Department of Clinical Aerospace Medicine at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine, was awarded ‘DLR Women Scientist of the Month November 2024’ in November. The aims of the network "DLR Women+ in Science & Technology” are to increase the proportion of women and gender minorities (women+) at DLR, to make women+ experts visible, promote them for scientific conferences and to make DLR seen as an attractive employer, especially for women and gender minorities.
Prof. Dr. Claudia Stern studied medicine in Bonn and later specialized in aerospace medicine. After completing her studies, she headed the Women in Aviation working group of the German Society for Aerospace Medicine (DGLRM). Her doctorate at the University of Hamburg dealt with "Visual demands in the workplace: Experimental studies on the visual acuity of air traffic controllers ". She completed her training as an ophthalmologist at the University Eye Clinic in Hamburg. She trained astronauts on the D2 and MIR missions to self-measure intraocular pressure and proved on a NASA parabolic flight that automatic devices can be used safely on the eye in zero gravity. A research stay took her to the U.S. Air Force Armstrong Laboratory in Texas.
She has been at DLR since 1996 and has headed the Department of Clinical Aerospace Medicine since 2014. In 2015/16, she was Medical Director of the Institute of Aerospace Medicine and subsequently headed the psychological and medical aptitude selection project "Die Astronautin". She has extensive experience in astronaut selection and bed rest studies. During the Cosmic Kiss Mission, she led the "Retinal Diagnostics" project as Principal Investigator, which was successfully implemented by Matthias Maurer. This demonstrated how swelling of the optic nerve head can be detected autonomously during space missions.
Stern is looking after European astronauts before, during and after their missions and conducts scientific research into the resulting questions together with space agencies. In the aviation sector, she has been an aviation medical expert for many years and is a member of the the Waiver Board of the German Civil Aviation Authority.
Claudia Stern is very well connected internationally, a member and fellow of numerous professional societies, heads various working groups and recently received the "Golden Pin of Honor" from the German Society of Aerospace Medicine, of which she was President from 2011-2013. She teaches at academies worldwide, the International Space University and the TU Braunschweig, which appointed her an honorary professor.