John French

Title
Professor
Email
Department
Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology
College
College of Arts & Sciences

Office Hours

COAS 401.17 by appointment

Areas of Expertise

Fatigue management

Sleep apnea

Cyber and Motion Sickness Countermeasures

Vestibular Neuroscience

Behavioral Pharmacology

John French

I am a full professor of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  I direct the Aerospace Physiology Lab and co-direct the Aviation Human Factors and Pilot Performance Lab.  Most of my career has been in applied military and industrial settings.  Previously I worked for a modeling and simulation company (Micro Analysis and Design) developing and testing biomathematical models and performance modifiers in large military simulations (like Warbreaker and DDX).  Prior to that, I was a civilian scientist for the USAF in the Crew Performance Lab where I did many controlled lab experiments as well as field studies in deployed air crew, including a large study of astronaut cognitive ability in the IML-2 flights.  Prior to the USAF, I worked in the Pharmacology Department at the University of MIchigan and the Parke Davis Pharmaceutical lab in the Cognition Activator Program, where I directed the pre-clinical EEG screen and helped to develop the first FDA approved treatment for early stage Alzheimer's.  Prior to working as a pharmacologist, I completed Post Doctoral training at the Laboratory of Cerebral Metabolism at Cornell University Medical College in New York City.  There I participated in developing a model of stroke that is still used today, the 4 VO, and assisted with PET analyses of rodent hypoglycemia and seizure.  My focus at ERAU has been to investigate the vestibular system and countermeasures for spatial disorientation in motion and cybersickness in laboratory, flight simulation and actual flight settings.  We have done numerous studies for industry (eg Boeing, Rockwell, Goodyear) and government (FAA, US Army, NASA).  

  • Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology, Colorado State University
  • M.S. - Master of Science in Psychology, Colorado State University
  • HF 440: Aerospace Physiology
  • PSY 335: Physiological Psychology
  • HF 321: Psychopharmacology
  • PSY 310: Sensation & Perception

HON 250- Honors course in Consciousness

HFS599 / HF499 - Bioergonomics 

Mortimer, B., French, J., McGrath, B., Rupert, A., Multisensory cues for addressing spatial orientation.  2020, Vertical Flight Society

Murph, I. A., French, J., Kukuvka, M., & Bush, D. (2019). Using Haptic Feedback as a Treatment for Position Dependent, Severe, Chronic Snoring. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 63(1), 1972–1976.

Lee, N., Graham, B. N. and French, J.  (2020) Physiological recognition of hypoxia and new training systems for athletes and aircrew. Proceedings of the Aerospace Medicine Society, Atlanta, GA.

French, J. Orr, A, Pritchett, M. and Doan, M. (2020) Mild hypoxia may accelerate spatial disorientation. Proceedings of the Aerospace Medicine Society, Reno, NV 

Mortimer, B, French, J., Hong, G., McGrath, and Rupert, A.  (2020) Using portable head-mounted tests of vestibular function to detect individual differences.  Proceedings of the Aerospace Medicine Society, Atlanta, GA. 

Mortimer, B., French, J., McGrath, A. and Rupert, A. (2020) Multisensory cues for addressing spatial orientation.  Proceedings of the Vertical Flight Society, Toronto

Murph, I. A., French, J., Kukuvka, M., & Bush, D. (2019). Using Haptic Feedback as a Treatment for Position Dependent, Severe, Chronic Snoring. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 63(1), 1972–1976. 

Kobrick, R., Lopac, N., Schuman, J.,French, J., Tomiyama, T. (2018)  Increasing Spaceflight Analogue Mission Fidelity by Standardization of Extravehicular Activity Metrics Tracking and Analysis. 48th International Conference on Environmental Systems. July, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Dylan, B., and French, J. (2018) Comparisons between traditional drum and VR induced OKN on the neuroendocrine and subjective symptoms of motion sickness.  Proceedings of the Aerospace Medical Association, Dallas, TX. 

Bush, Dylan, Kukuvka, Matt, Murph, Imani and French, J. Vibro-tactile induced position change improves sleep quality in heavy and moderate snorers.  Proceedings of the Sleep Research Society, 2018.

Bruce Mortimer, Jon French, Jon Tapson, Greg Mort, Gary Zets, Brad McGrath, Angus Rupert. .Developing a spatial orientation model with countermeasures for disorientation.  Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, 2018

Murph, I., Christaldi, T. and French, J. The aeromedical use and potential for optokinetic nystagmus in research and treatment. Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, 2018

French, J., Bush, D., Mundhenke, H. and Prutsman, J. (2017) Persistent optokinetically induced nystagmus and vection with virtual reality goggles.  Proceedings of the Visually Induced Motion Sensations (VIMS) meeting, Toronto, Nov 16-17.

Kobrick, R., Lopac, N., Schuman, J.,French, J., Tomiyama, T. (2018)  Increasing Spaceflight Analogue Mission Fidelity by Standardization of Extravehicular Activity Metrics Tracking and Analysis. Presented at the 48th International Conference on Environmental Systems. July, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Human Factors - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (2003-Current)

Biomathematical Modeling - Micro Analysis and Design, Inc (1999-2003)

Aerospace Physiologist - US Air Force (1988-1999)

Behavioral Pharmacologist - Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Co. (1983-1986); University of Michigan (1986-1988)

Electrophysiologist - Cornell University Medical School (1980-1983)

Aerospace Medical Association

Aerospace Physiology Society (Secretary)

Society for Neurosciences

The USAF Dan Berkant award (1992) and the DoD Civilian Recognition Medal (1992) for research in a combat zone. USAF Crew Systems Directorate Technology Transition Award and  Scientific Excellence Award USAF (1995) USAF Directors Award (1993) Boeing Aircraft Supplier of the year (2010) The ERAU Presidential citation award (2011 and 2012).