Dr Tess Morris-Paterson

Dr Tess Morris-Paterson is a chartered scientist who specialises in human performance across the most demanding environments on and off Earth. After a decade optimising Premier League footballers, Formula One drivers, and Olympic athletes, she redirected her expertise towards human spaceflight, completing a PhD in aerospace physiology and working as a visiting scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. For the past 18 months, she has worked full time planning astronaut selections for international space agencies, applying rigorous selection methodologies through her company Astro Perform. Her presentations translate evidence from elite sport, space, and military leadership into practical frameworks that help organisations enhance decision making, build resilient teams, and perform under pressure.

For five years, Dr Tess Morris-Paterson was one of only three women working at performance lead level in the Premier League, a statistic that defined both her rarity and her resolve in one of sport's most competitive environments. Her decade optimising Olympic athletes, Formula One drivers, and world-ranked tennis and golf champions established her as a pioneer in performance science, developing innovations such as an ingestible pill to measure muscle mass and bespoke nutrition strategies engineered to deliver the marginal gains that separate victory from defeat. That foundation in elite sport, grounded in rigorous research and practical application, would eventually propel her towards a far more unusual frontier: preparing humans for spaceflight. Her transition began with doctoral research in aerospace physiology at King's College London, investigating how the human body responds to microgravity, work that earned recognition from the International Astronautical Federation, the Aerospace Medical Association, and NASA's Human Research Program.

As a visiting scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, Tess contributed to GeneLab, a team investigating molecular level changes caused by spaceflight, before attending the International Space University and founding Astro Perform and Astro Health, businesses dedicated to astronaut selection and training. Recognised in 2019 as an Emerging Space Leader by global experts, she received scholarships from both the UK Space Agency and European Space Agency, validation that positioned her to support international space agencies developing their own astronaut programmes. For 18 months, she worked full time planning astronaut selections for space agencies worldwide, applying the same rigorous methodologies she had refined in elite sport to identify candidates capable of thriving in humanity's most extreme environment. Her career across the Football Association, Women's Super League, and McLaren Formula One, combined with her role as Olympic and Paralympic Head of Performance managing teams of specialists, provided the leadership experience necessary to navigate the complexities of human spaceflight. As a chartered scientist and British Army Reserve Officer in the Royal Engineers, responsible for units of up to 100 soldiers in a corps with only five per cent women, she understands firsthand the demands of leading diverse teams through high-stakes, high-pressure conditions.

Today, as a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Army Leadership, a role she holds until 2028, Tess applies insights from sport, space, and military service to organisational performance under pressure. Her work with audiences focuses on translating evidence from extreme environments into actionable strategies for leadership, decision making, and team resilience. She demonstrates how the principles that keep astronauts alive and athletes winning can help organisations navigate complexity and uncertainty. Whether speaking about the psychology of selection processes, the physiology of performance optimisation, or the leadership required when failure is not an option, Tess equips teams with practical frameworks they can implement immediately. Her presentations leave audiences with clear, evidence-based tools to enhance performance, build psychological safety, and develop the adaptive thinking required for success in volatile environments. From after-dinner talks to corporate keynotes, she connects the science of human performance to the real-world challenges facing leaders today, ensuring her insights create lasting impact long after the event concludes.