Dr. Nisha Charkoudian earned her Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Physiology in 1999 from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She completed postdoctoral training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and joined the Mayo Clinic faculty in the Department of Physiology & Biomedical Engineering in 2003. In 2011, Dr. Charkoudian joined the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) in Natick, MA as a Research Physiologist. She became Chief of the Thermal & Mountain Division (TMMD) in 2022.

Dr. Charkoudian’s main areas of research focus are the integrative physiological responses to environmental extremes of heat and high altitude, including sex differences and influences of female reproductive hormones on these processes. She has evaluated the influences of heat, exercise, and hydration on sympathetic neural responses, cardiovascular regulation, and exercise performance. She lists over 150 peer-reviewed publications in the physiology and biomedical literature. Other professional activities have included service as Associate Editor for the American Journal of Physiology (Heart & Circulation) and Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.