Dr Zoe Swann Baillie

Dr Zoe Swann Baillie is an Aerospace Neuroscientist and Research Associate at the Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space. Her work brings together neuroscience, speech and language, and human factors to understand how we can support human wellbeing in extreme environments, asking not only how we keep people alive, but how we help them flourish, even in highly controlled systems.

Her research programme, AVOCADOS (Astronaut Voice Observation to Capture Adaptation, Dysregulation, and Operational Status), explores the voice as a window into the body and mind. Subtle changes in speech can reveal shifts in fatigue, attention, mood, and physiological strain before conscious awareness. As such, speech offers a low-burden, non-invasive way to assess how people are coping over time, both in space and on Earth, and to inform more personalised countermeasures.

Dr Swann Baillie’s career has been shaped by a deep interest in communication, health, and equity. During her PhD at Arizona State University, she invented a medical device for people with severe post-stroke speech loss, particularly for underserved populations with limited access to care. During the pandemic, she researched the neurological impacts of long-duration spaceflight and microgravity in collaboration with teams at the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins University Aerospace Medicine. She later worked to improve diagnosis, treatment, and access to care for women, rural communities, and people living with chronic illnesses such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, COPD, and coronary microvascular disease.

These perspectives guide her research in space. Astronauts on long-duration missions face fatigue, cognitive strain, and often invisible physiological changes, while operating in environments where monitoring is constant. Her work asks how we can use data ethically in a way that supports rather than surveils. The goal of AVOCADOS is to give astronauts and people on Earth meaningful insight into their own health, helping them pace themselves, retain autonomy, and flourish within highly controlled systems. Underpinning this is the simple idea that joy is not a luxury, but a biological necessity.

She is particularly interested in what spaceflight can learn from disability and chronic illness communities. These communities show that wellbeing is not about meeting a fixed standard of performance, but about creating systems that adapt to human variation through community, accessibility, and autonomy. In this sense, space becomes a powerful testbed for more equitable and humane design, with lessons that can be brought back to improve healthcare, work, and everyday life on Earth.

Alongside her research, Dr Swann Baillie is committed to improving research culture and wellbeing in academia. She is an awardee of the I-REACCH (Inclusive Research Environment Achieved through Culture Change) award at the University of Leicester, and her “Joy in Research” initiative aims to make research more inclusive by making it more joyful and playful, supporting diverse research communities.

Leverhulme Centre for Humanity & Space, University of Leicester (2026 – Present). Astronaut Voice Observation to Capture Adaptation, Dysregulation, and Observational Status (AVOCADOS): Fostering Trust and Wellbeing in Long-Duration Space Exploration.

Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester (2025).  Clinical Project Management of Interventional, Device, and Observational Portfolios in COPD, Asthma, and Long COVID.

Genetesis, Inc. (2023 – 2025). Global Validation of Magnetocardiography (MCG) for Ischemia and Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction in Women.

Medpace, Inc. (2023). Global Operational Management of Phase I–IV Clinical Trials for Paediatric Neuromuscular Disorders.

Mayo Clinic Aerospace Medicine & Johns Hopkins University (2020 – 2021). Predictive Neurovascular Biomarkers in Long-Duration Spaceflight: Conceptualising Speech Acoustic Metrics for Neurocognitive Load and Cephalic Fluid Shifts.

Arizona State University (2019 – 2022). Startle Adjuvant Rehabilitation Therapy (START): Developing a Novel Neuroplasticity Device and Telehealth Platform for Severe Post-Stroke Aphasia in Underserved Populations.

Case Western Reserve University (2018 – 2020). Neurological and Speech Rehabilitation Post-Blast Traumatic Brain Injury: A Meta-Analysis of Veteran Care Priorities.

University of Arizona (2017 – 2019). Sex-Specific Neuroendocrine Dysregulation and Biomarkers in Rodent Models of Traumatic Brain Injury.

UCSF Medical Center (2017). Advanced Neuroimaging Markers in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Evaluating Structure and Function via DTI and fMRI.

Oberlin College (2015 – 2019). Electrophysiological (EEG) and Behavioural Correlates of Motor Timing and Auditory Attention using the Post Auricular Muscle Response.

Peer-reviewed publications

• Swann, Z., Daliri, A., & Honeycutt, C. F. (2022). Impact of Startling Acoustic Stimuli on Word Repetition in Individuals with Aphasia and Apraxia of Speech Following Stroke. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR, 65(5), 1671–1685.
• Swann, Z., Tesman, N., Rogalsky, C., & Honeycutt, C. F. (2023). Word Repetition Paired With Startling Stimuli Decreases Aphasia and Apraxia Severity in Severe-to-Moderate Stroke: A Stratified, Single-Blind, Randomized, Phase 1 Clinical Trial. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 32(6), 2630–2653.
• Rahimi, M., Swann, Z., & Honeycutt, C. F. (2021). Does exposure to startle impact voluntary reaching movements in individuals with severe-to-moderate stroke? Experimental Brain Research, 239(3), 745–753.
• Swann, Z., Salley, J., Crook, L., Hassan, N., O’Mattingly, E., Ciccia, A. (2021). Cognitive and communication interventions for veterans with blast-related Traumatic Brain Injury: A systematic review for 2001-2018. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. In Review.

Public engagement and popular publications

• Swann Baillie, Z., (2026). There Is No Perfect Astronaut, Space Park Perspectives. Opinion Piece.
• Swann, Z. (2020). Night and Day: Using Different teaching styles according to class time. Invited Blog for the Teaching and Learning Centre, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University.

• Applications of Acoustic Phonetics – Oberlin College, Ohio (Spring 2023)
• Human Anatomy and Physiology I Cadaver Lab – Arizona State University (Fall 2019 and Spring 2021)
• EEG Applications and Analysis Lab – Oberlin College, Ohio (Spring 2019)
• The Brain: An Introduction to Neuroscience – Oberlin College, Ohio (Spring 2019)
• Introduction to Statistics - Oberlin College, Ohio (Spring 2019)
• Topics in General Chemistry - Oberlin College, Ohio (Fall 2018)
• Calculus Ia: Limits, Continuity and Differentiation – Oberlin College, Ohio (Fall 2018)
• Fundamentals of Linguistics -  Oberlin College, Ohio (Fall 2017)

Selected Honours & Awards:

• I-REACCH Award (Inclusive Research Environment Achieved through Culture Change), University of Leicester (2025): leadership in improving academic research culture and wellbeing through the design and launch of the “Joy in Research” initiative, dedicated to fostering inclusivity, playfulness, and support for diverse research communities.
• Harry Lowell Swift Advancing Health Scholarship (2022): prize for research advancing human health
• ASU Graduate Student Resilience Fellowship (2021): prize for research resilience during COVID-19 
• ASU GPSA Outstanding Research Award (2020): prize for commitment to excellence in research
• Nancy Robelle Memorial Prize (2019): prize for potential in neuroscience research 
• Top Abstract Award (2018): Midwest Great Lakes Undergraduate Research Symposium
• Certificate of Recognition (2017): Sigma Xi Science Honour Society
• Formal Distinction (2016): mGluRs Poster Presentation

2022     Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Arizona State University, Schools of Neuroscience, Speech and Hearing, and Biomedical Engineering.
GPA 3.93/4.0 (top 1% of class)
Doctoral Thesis: "She Said I Love You: The Effect of StartReact and Startle Adjuvant Rehabilitation Therapy in Post-Stroke Aphasia, Apraxia, and Dysarthria of Speech."

2019     B.A. in Neuroscience & Linguistics with High Honours, Oberlin College
GPA 3.56/4.0 (top 15% of class)
Honours Thesis: “Drum Playing Modulates the Post Auricular Muscle Response via Intention, not Attention.”