Astronaut Visits Children

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., March 6, 2018 On March 5, artist and retired astronaut Nicole Stott visited children in the pediatric unit at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Daytona Beach.

Stott gave the children postcards they could decorate that will be shared with other astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Stott is an Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University alumna and a member of the Board of Trustees since 2012. She retired from NASA in 2015, following a 27-year career that included living for 104 days in space on the International Space Station.

She now works to promote science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics to benefit society.

Stotts recent hospital visit was organized by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Department of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology.

Karen Gaines, dean of the university's College of Arts and Sciences at Daytona Beach, said advancing innovative, research-based healthcare strategies is the focus of the university's work with Florida Hospital.

In 2017, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Florida Hospital partnered to offer an undergraduate degree in aerospace physiology that focuses on how the human body responds to space and flight with applications to advance medicine for life on earth.

The program is the first undergraduate program of its kind in the world. As aerospace physiologists, students will specifically learn to identify, prevent and manage the impacts extreme environments can have on human health.

About Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center
Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center is a member of Adventist Health System, a faith-based health care organization with 45 hospital campuses and 8,200 licensed beds in nine states, serving more than 5 million patients annually. With a mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center includes the 327-bed facility in Daytona Beach, as well as Florida Hospital Oceanside with 80 beds in Ormond Beach. Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center and Florida Hospital Oceanside are two of the seven Florida Hospitals in Flagler, Lake and Volusia counties that composes the Florida Hospital Central Florida Division - North Region. As the largest hospital system in the area, the Florida Hospital Central Florida Division - North Region has 1,226 beds and more than 7,800 employees.

About Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the worlds largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is a nonprofit, independent institution offering more than 80 baccalaureate, masters and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, Engineering and Security and Intelligence. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through the Worldwide Campus with more than 125 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and through online programs. The university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. For more information, visit erau.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv.