Dr. Fathi Karouia at NASA Research Park   

Photo: NASA (nasa.gov)

As a child in France, Fathi Karouia dreamed of becoming a soccer player. However, a leg injury changed that plan. Years later, after studying physics and biology, applying to become an astronaut and spending more than 16 years conducting research at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Karouia has begun another chapter at Kyung Hee University (KHU).

Recently appointed as an academic research professor at the Next-generation EXploration of the Universe and Space (NEXUS) Institute, he brings over two decades of NASA research experience in astrobiology, planetary protection, space biology, and astronaut health, to name a few, to Korea. Unlike many scientists who follow a predetermined career path, Dr. Fathi Karouia’s journey to NASA was shaped by unexpected changes, curiosity, and a willingness to explore new directions.

From Soccer to NASA

“As a child, I wanted to become a soccer player,” Karouia recalled with a laugh. 

Soccer was his first passion, and he trained seriously in a specialized sports and academic program in France. However, a leg injury ended his athletic dream, leading him to turn from soccer to science. At first, physics captured his interest, and he pursued it at university, but his exposure to space science became a major turning point in his career.

“As I learned more about space, I realized this was something I wanted to pursue,” he explained. 

For a time, Karouia considered a future as an astronaut. However, he soon recognized that space exploration required knowledge beyond physics alone. Believing that a broader scientific background would help him stand out among other astronaut candidates, he expanded his expertise by studying biology, eventually earning a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Houston.

His interdisciplinary background later led him to apply for the European Space Agency astronaut program in 2008. Although he advanced in the selection process, he was not selected for the final astronaut corps. However, rather than seeing this as the end of his space ambition, he continued pursuing opportunities in space research from a different perspective.

This combination of physics, biology, and space science eventually opened the door to NASA Ames Research Center after completing a Ph.D. with an emphasis in space microbiology in collaboration with NASA Johnson Space Center. Over the next 16 years, Dr. Karouia worked on numerous spaceflight experiments not only as an investigator but also as a project and mission scientist collaborating with engineers, astronauts, physicians, and researchers across multiple fields. To date, he has been involved with over 35 spaceflight investigations conducted on board the International Space Station (ISS). His career did not follow a fixed plan. It developed by following new questions when unexpected opportunities appeared.

Beyond Earth: Protecting Life Through Space Science

With a research background spanning astrobiology, planetary protection, space biology, astronaut health and performance, space technologies to enable exploration, and in-space manufacturing, Dr. Karouia’s current research focuses on understanding how living systems respond to the extreme conditions of space.

One of his research areas is planetary protection, which focuses on preventing biological contamination during space missions. For example, when a spacecraft is traveling from Earth, it can carry microorganisms that could contaminate other planetary environments. Planetary protection procedures are designed to prevent that kind of contamination and protect the research samples.

“The idea is not to protect the planet per se,” he explained. “It is to protect science.”

At the same time, planetary protection works in reverse by studying how samples returned from space can be safely handled without introducing potential risks to Earth’s environment. To study how organisms respond to space, Dr. Karouia has worked with a range of model organisms rather than rodents. As the former lead of NASA Space Biology’s non-rodent portfolio, he oversaw research involving microorganisms, cells, plants, and invertebrates, such as C. elegans and fruit flies, conducted aboard the ISS.

“You do not necessarily need to have vertebrates, for example, mice, in space to be able to translate that to human physiology,” he said. C. elegans, for example, can be used to study muscles and the gut microbiome, while fruit flies can help researchers examine the immune system.Microorganisms offer another advantage and efficiency: some bacteria can be replicated in about 20 minutes under suitable conditions. This allows researchers to observe changes across multiple generations, which would take much longer with other species.

His research also looks at how spaceflight affects human health. Dr. Karouia has examined biological changes associated with conditions such as frailty and muscle loss in astronauts during both short- and long-duration missions.

“In some sense, space acts as an accelerant,” he explained, referring to how certain biological processes can occur more quickly in space than they do on Earth. The potential benefits are not limited to astronauts. Dr. Karouia pointed to research using organisms in space to investigate conditions such as bone loss and osteoporosis, showing how space experiments can also raise questions relevant to medicine on Earth. The value of space research lies not only in what it can reveal about life beyond Earth, but also in what those discoveries can teach us here.

Building the Future of Space Science at KHU

Although Dr. Karouia continues collaborating internationally, his newest chapter centers on KHU, where he works closely with Prof. Kim Man-seok from the College of Medicine to expand research in space biology and space medicine.As they have been collaborating on different research projects, Prof. Kim invited him to work alongside him in KHU as a research professor at the NEXUS Institute. Dr. Karouia described their expertise as different but complementary.

“I think we have complementary expertise,” he said. “He is an expert in computational biology AI and machine learning. I am more in the realm of space biology as well as astronauts’ health and performance, translating discoveries and exploration into space technologies to enable exploration and benefit mankind on Earth.”

Their collaboration also extends to the government-funded G-LAMP program, which is the Global-Learning & Academic research institution for Master, Ph.D. students, and Postdocs. Through G-LAMP funding, KHU established NEXUS Institute. It is organized around three pillars: core space exploration technology, space artificial intelligence, and basic space medicine, giving students the opportunity to approach space research from different disciplines.

Dr. Karouia is focused on mentoring and training the next generation in space medicine. Through this work, he hopes to introduce students to interdisciplinary research and international collaboration.When asked what he looks for in students, he emphasized curiosity, critical thinking, resilience, teamwork and communication. Dr. Karouia thinks that students do not need to have all the answers.

“I think there is nothing wrong with not knowing,” he said. “You need to be genuinely interested and curious about trying to find the answer.”