Luís M. R. Saraiva is a neuroscientist, an adventurer and a space advocate. He is originally from Portugal, where he lived until 2004. There he completed a “Licenciatura” (equivalent to BSc+MSc) in Biology at the
Universidade de Evora and
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia, having specialized in Ecology, Paleontology and Microbial Evolution and Behavior. He then moved to the
University of Cologne in Germany, after being selected to be a Fellow of the
International Graduate School in Genetics and Functional Genomics (Class of 2004-2008). While there, he completed several courses, lab rotations and his PhD thesis in Genetics/Neurobiology with a summa cum laude. In the Summer of 2008 he applied and was not selected to be an Astronaut for ESA. In despair he moved to Boston where he was a visiting scientist at
Harvard Medical School. In October of the same year he became a Postdoctoral Fellow at the
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. He works in Dr. Linda Buck’s Lab trying to unravel the neural circuits that regulate innate behaviors, like aggression and fear. In addition, he is also trying to discover the olfactory receptors that recognize pheromones and how these olfactory cues can modulate behavior. He presents his work in conferences and has published several research papers in high-impact factor scientific journals.
In January 2010, he completed a 14-day expedition to the Mars Desert Research Station (
MDRS) in Utah. There he served as the Biologist and Health and Safety Officer (HSO) of the 6-member
MDRS Crew 89. He logged a little over 24 hours on 9 extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) conducting his own research projects or helping with other crew members projects. He also conducted research in the laboratory and worked together with the crew engineer developing and testing a shower that can recycle water.
Luís uses sports to keep his mental sanity in place. He practiced or still practices Soccer, Capoeira, Kickboxing, Rock Climbing and Mountaineering. He is also a travel and adrenalin junkie and up to now he has visited over 25 countries (spreadout through 4 continents) and considers that his volunteering mission in the West-Bank was a life-changing experience. He thinks that our future as a thriving civilization heavily depends on both the ‘genetic enhancement’ of humanity and the space exploration and colonization.
