Dr. Rachel M Lance, PhD

Dr. Lance holds a PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke University, where she currently serves as a research investigator at the Duke University Center for Hyperbaric Medicine & Environmental Physiology. She specializes in patterns of injury and trauma, specifically those from blasts (explosions) and ballistics, with the dual goals of prevention and protection. Her most notable blast-related work includes her investigations into the sinking of the Civil War submarine HL Hunley, which she determined most likely occurred because the lethal pressure wave from the explosion transmitted into the interior cabin of the submarine and caused fatal pulmonary trauma to the crew. As part of the release of the academic publication, she conducted interviews with national and international news outlets such as The Times of London, Der Spiegel, CNN, and an on-air interview with NPR’s radio program The State of Things through WUNC. Her book on the topic, In the Waves, will be released with Penguin Random House in April 2020.

Her research at Duke also investigates the unique physiological challenges of working in extreme environments, including by not limited to hypoxia, hyperoxia, hypercapnia, and decompression sickness. She is currently working on a project examining the failure of rebreathers, which are devices designed to recycle a diver’s breathing gas while adding more oxygen. When these devices fail underwater they frequently lead to hypoxia, loss of consciousness, and drowning.

Media includes: Primary blast trauma (human injuries from shock waves), Behind-armor blunt force trauma, Hypoxia, Hyperoxia and oxygen toxicity, Hypercapnia, Diving physiology, Civil War history, Survival in submarines