Marisa Covington

Dr. Marisa Covington, PhD, MS, CIP, is the Director of the Office of Research Assurance (ORA) within the Office of the Chief Health and Medical Office (OCHMO) located at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Her primary responsibilities are to ensure human and animal research is done ethically at all NASA centers and on ISS; provide strategic direction for program enhancements and improvements including providing expertise in NASA human subject research, federal regulations, and implementation of ethical science across NASA as well as International partners; education and compliance of research ethics and regulatory practices for staff, investigators, research volunteers, and international partners; and serve on the NASA Bioethics Committee, providing feedback on human bioethics, human genetics, medical privacy, and federal and international regulations.

Dr. Covington started her NASA career as a contractor with MEI Technologies and supported the Chief Scientist Office of the Human Research Program at JSC, where she served as the study coordinator for the Twins study, the first integrated omics study on crewmembers. During this time, Dr. Covington’s interests in medical bioethics, specifically ethical concerns in NASA research, increased significantly. While playing a key role on NASA’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), Dr. Covington became a certified IRB professional (CIP) and spent years as the NASA IRB manager. She was then promoted to Program Integration and Strategic Planning Manager for KBR, on the human health and performance contract for NASA. In May 2020, she was hired by NASA in the Office of the Chief Health Medical Officer, and currently serves as the Director of the OCHMO Office of Research Assurance and Chair of the NASA IRB.

Dr. Covington received her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Chemistry and Biology and Doctorate (PhD) in Toxicology from Texas A&M Health Science Center. After completion of her post-doctoral fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina in epigenetic effects of cardiac hypertrophy, Dr. Covington accepted a faculty position in the College of Pharmacy at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she studied diabetic nephropathy and toxicological effects of heavy metals. She received a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Ethics.