Dawn Kernagis

Dawn Kernagis has a diverse and extensive work experience. Dawn joined DEEP in 2023 as the Director of Scientific Research. In the same year, they also became a Strategic Advisor and Consultant at Applied Cognition, where they worked on developing a medical device and platform. Prior to that, in 2020, they worked as an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and as a Visiting Research Scientist at IHMC. In 2021, they joined Momentous as a Scientific Advisory Board Member. From 2015 to 2020, they were a Research Scientist and Program Lead at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, focusing on human performance in extreme environments and other related research areas. In 2016, they served as a NEEMO Aquanaut at NASA. Dawn also has experience as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Graduate Research Fellow at Duke University Medical Center, where they conducted research on brain injury mechanisms, therapeutic targets, and gene expression microarray applications.

Dawn Kernagis completed their Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry at North Carolina State University. Dawn then pursued their Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology/Experimental Pathology at Duke University, where they studied from 2008 to 2012. Currently, they are earning their Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with an expected completion year of 2025.