Diving Science
Michael B. Strauss, MD,is medical director of the department of hyperbaric medicine at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in Long Beach, California. An experienced diver, he is familiar with almost all types of equipment, from snorkel to closed-circuit scuba to tethered diving out of a personal transfer capsule.In more than 30 articles on diving medicine, Dr. Strauss has formulated an explanation for pain-only bends, delineated the outcomes of decompression, and detailed the causes of blackout (no-panic syndromes).Dr. Strauss is a member of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society and is a tertiary provider for referrals of medical problems of diving for the Divers Alert Network. He is a qualified U.S. undersea medical officer and was a U.S. Navy SEAL team medical officer. He is board certified in undersea and hyperbaric medicine.Igor V. Aksenov, MD, PhD,works in the department of medicine at the University of Florida at Gainesville. Dr. Aksenov has a diverse background in medicine, including internal, critical care, clinical toxicology and pharmacology, and hyberbaric and diving.Dr. Aksenov worked as associate dean, professor, and director of the hyberbaric medicine program at Saba University School of Medicine in Saba, Netherlands Antilles (Dutch Caribbean). He was also the medical director of the Saba Marine Park. While in these positions, Dr. Aksenov dealt with various diving accidents and conducted research on decompression sickness in recreational divers. He was trained as a Navy physician at the Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, and worked as head physician of the intensive care unit and director of the hyperbaric medicine unit at one of the Military Medical Academy Clinics.Dr. Aksenov is a prolific writer. He has more than 60 published scientific papers in several areas of medicine. He is a member of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society.