Starting a non-profit, serving on a board of directors, conducting medical research, and speaking at space exploration conference has been some of the activities for Gitika Gorthi. Oh, and recently graduating from HIGH SCHOOL! Gitika is busy working toward a career in aerospace medicine, and she knows exactly where she wants to be, what she wants to study and what problems she wants to solve in the aerospace industry. Whew! So, get ready to meet the incredibly impressive Gitika Gorthi in this episode of Casual Space! 

Gitika Gorthi is the Founder and CEO of Ignited Thinkers, a non-profit organization she founded in the 8th-grade to spread space education and her love for aerospace to students across the world. She is an incoming freshman at Columbia University in their College of Engineering and Applied Science as a Davis Scholar. Gitika is an aspiring aerospace physician, medical researcher, and astronaut. Conducting medical research at the Baylor College of Medicine Space Medicine Center, researching wind turbines at the University of Central Florida at Raghavan Research Group, working with professor Dr. Prasanta Pal from Brown University to develop telemedicine technology, student researcher at Columbia Medical School Center for Radiological Research, and interning last summer at NASA Ames Research Center at GeneLab, Gitika is diligently working on her interest in aerospace medicine research. 

Gitika is extremely excited about the new understanding studying humans in space will bring to treat diseases here on Earth and the medical technological advancements with the utilization of telemedicine for deep-space exploration missions. Most recently, Gitika was named one of the Top 100 Women in Aerospace and Aviation Professionals to Follow on LinkedIn in 2022. The future of aerospace is exciting, and Gitika is working to make it a more diverse and equitable environment for everyone!

Gitika is a 2021-2022 Teen Board of Director of the Girl Scout Nation’s Capital and 2020-2022 Girls Advisory Board Member for Girl Scouts USA. She provides strategic advice to help make the scouting program more diverse, equitable, and inclusive for all girls.

Learn More about Ignited Thinkers here: www.ignitedthinkers.org Through IgnitedThinkers, Gitika is working towards breaking the glass ceiling for minorities in the aerospace industry, incorporating more hands-on research space science-based activities into elementary education curriculums, and igniting the passions of all students by providing them the opportunity to explore and create. IgnitedThinkers' mission and vision statement are simple: to ignite, inform, and inspire students across the world.

Connect with and follow Gitika on her journey! 

Twitter: @IgnitedThinkers and @GitikaGorthi

Instagram: @IgnitedThinkers and @Gitika Gorthi

LinkedIn: @IgnitedThinkers and @Gitika Gorthi