Dr. Kathie McAlpine, MD

Media Releases

Get to know Aerospace Medicine Specialist Dr. Kathie McAlpine.

A seasoned occupational medicine and family physician, Dr. McAlpine has had a very diverse career ranging from direct medical service, to NASA bone research, as well as administration and program development. Her current primary focus is in aerospace medicine. She is currently working as an expert consultant with NASA, reviewing health care systems for current and retired astronauts and helping to evaluate/design surveillance programs for long term travel to the Moon and Mars.

Pertaining to her educational background, she obtained her medical degree from the Howard University College of Medicine, and received her Master of Public Health degree and Master of Science degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Harvard University. She did residency training in family medicine at the UMass Chan Medical School.

As a testament of her continued education, the doctor is board-certified in general preventive medicine, and public health by the American Board of Preventive Medicine, a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties that issues “certificates of special knowledge” in the specialty of preventive medicine.

In her professional experience, Dr. McAlpine was the founding Director for the First Family Practice Physician Assistant Program in Colorado. The program was created to help address the healthcare provider shortages in Colorado and the country. She has chaired a statewide coalition for science technology engineering and math (STEM), in addition to directing a large hospital department. She has also studied graduate astrophysics, including creating a new way of interpreting/viewing quasars.

With a passion for teaching, she greatly enjoys mentoring students of all ages and has done this regularly for many years. She has designed and implemented programs for preschool thru post graduate students. To help decrease the inequities in the provision of healthcare services and educational opportunities, she has directly provided services to medical underserved populations and obtained grants to improve general public health ex. Prediabetes and Diabetes prevention. Student outreach programs have included designing programs for 22 schools and 6 school districts obtaining a repeating NASA grant, encouraging student health and educational initiatives. When available she serves as the Chief Medical Officer for the Transnational Resource Development Associates (TRDA): Transnational Resources Development Associates – Professional International Services (transrda.com), which provides services for agricultural, data information and technology, emergency management and disaster mitigation, energy, healthcare, security, and water issues. 

Aerospace medicine focuses on the clinical care, research, and operational support of the health, safety, and performance of crew members and passengers of air and space vehicles, together with the support personnel who assist operation of such vehicles.

Recommended Articles

• Occupational Therapy vs. Physical Therapy

  Therapy is synonymous with treatment, which means that it is a course of action taken to correct a particular health problem. As with other fields, there are different approaches to therapy such as occupational and physical therapy. They are both recognized professions and the practitioners must be...

• What Causes Middle Back Pain?

  Middle back pain, also known as upper back pain or thoracic back pain occurs anywhere between the bottom of the neck to the top of the lumbar spine, where the rib cage ends. The ribs are connected to the sternum (a narrow thickened plate in the center of the chest) and then wrap round the...

• What is Apraxia?

  Apraxia is a neurological condition in which the affected person may not be able to perform a particular movement when they want to. This is true even when the movement is learned. In some cases, mild symptoms are seen and this condition is referred to as dyspraxia. There are different types of...

• How to Prepare for Occupational Therapy

  There really is no single way to prepare for occupational therapy or any other forms of therapy for that matter. Treatment of disease is straightforward. The tests are known and the diagnosis is definitive. If the medication is tested and the side-effects are known, then the recovery time can be...

• Tips for Living with Stroke

  A stroke is a severe condition that is brought about by insufficient blood supply to the brain. This can be as a result of a blood clot or a broken blood vessel. According to physicians, stroke can cause different effects. However, if you stick to the treatment options designed by your doctor, a...

• What Conditions Warrant Occupational Therapy?

  In general, therapy refers to an attempt of diagnosing a health problem upon identification. Various forms of therapy have been created to address different health problems. Occupational therapy (OT) is among the newer forms of therapies which is very closely related to physical therapy (PT), but is...