Dr. Gregg A. Bendrick – NESC Academy Biography

Dr. Gregg A. Bendrick is the Chief Medical Officer at the NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center (formerly known as the Dryden Flight Research Center), located on Edwards Air Force Base in California.  There he oversees the Center’s implementation of all aspects of the NASA Occupational Health Program, to include Aerospace Medicine, Occupational Medicine, Industrial Hygiene, Health Physics and Fitness Center operations in support of NASA aeronautical test and airborne science operations. He likewise serves as the Fatigue Risk Management Officer for the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), an airborne telescope that operates out of the Armstrong Flight Research Center. He serves as a member of the NASA Medical Policy Board, and represents the NASA Chief Health and Medical Officer as the designated Health and Medical Technical Authority (HMTA) at the Center.
Dr. Bendrick was born and raised near Chicago, Illinois, and attended the University of Chicago for both his undergraduate and professional education.  There he earned the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, the Masters of Science (MS) degree, and his Medical Doctorate (MD).  After completing a Transitional-Year Residency in Pontiac, Michigan, he entered active duty with the U.S. Air Force and worked initially as an Emergency Medicine Physician at Misawa Air Base in Northern Japan. He then became a Squadron Flight Surgeon at Yokota Air Base near Tokyo, after which he returned to the United States to accomplish the Residency in Aerospace Medicine, followed by the Residency in Occupational Medicine, both at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. During this period he completed his Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at the University of Texas. He was later assigned to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, where he served for over two years as the Chief of Aeromedical Operations. After a total of nine years’ active service, Dr. Bendrick voluntarily separated from the Air Force with an Honorable Discharge. He joined the Oschner Clinic in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he practiced as an Occupational Medicine Specialist until 2001, when he assumed his current position at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center; in this position he has directly supported six (6) Space Shuttle landings as the NASA Emergency Medical Services Coordinator. In 2012 he also served as one of two Flight Surgeons on the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) Task Force analyzing the hypoxia-like incidents associated with the U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter aircraft; this effort culminated in a report to the U.S. Air Force that was ultimately endorsed by the NASA Administrator and later presented in testimony by the NESC Team Lead before the U.S. Congress.
Dr. Bendrick is a Fellow of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine (IAASM), and a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA). He is Board Certified in Aerospace Medicine, Board Eligible in Occupational Medicine, and is designated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a Senior Aviation Medical Examiner.  Dr. Bendrick teaches on a part-time basis in the Aviation Safety and Security Program of the University of Southern California. He has authored several technical papers on various aspects of Aerospace Medicine, and has co-authored the book Breaking the Mishap Chain, a NASA publication analyzing the human factors associated with various flight test aircraft mishaps.  He has likewise published a novel.  He is married, and has one daughter from a previous marriage.

Biography information last updated May, 2017.