Craig McKinley

Craig Anthony McKinley (July 14, 1964 – February 18, 2013) was a Canadian physician. On February 28, 2003, McKinley participated in the world's first telerobotic-assisted surgery, conducted at two hospitals separated by 400 kilometres. He later served as an aquanaut on the joint NASA-NOAA NEEMO 7 underwater exploration mission in October 2004, where he and other aquanauts tested remote health care procedures with potential application for space travel. McKinley experienced problems with alcohol and faced legal difficulties beginning in 2009. He lost his hospital privileges in 2011 and died in 2013.

Early life and education McKinley was born in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada. He grew up in Eastern Canada, living in several different communities throughout the Maritimes.

McKinley attended the University of New Brunswick where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, graduating with honors. Under a full National Science and Engineering Research Council postgraduate scholarship, he obtained a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick, graduating with honors. He then attended the University of Toronto where he obtained his Medical Doctorate with honor standing. Following his MD, he entered the General Surgical Fellowship training program at the University of Toronto. McKinley received numerous undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships including five National Science and Engineering Research Council grants.

Aquanaut McKinley practicing a suturing technique inside the Aquarius habitat. In October 2004, McKinley, a recreational diver, became an aquanaut through his participation in the joint NASA-NOAA, NEEMO 7 (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) project, an exploration research mission held in Aquarius, the world's only undersea research laboratory. McKinley was the Canadian Space Agency's co-principal investigator for NEEMO 7, along with Mehran Anvari. During the mission, McKinley wrote: "It is difficult to explain what it is like living in an underwater habitat... when something passes by our windows, it is not a bird but rather a fish. And when we leave our home, we don't go for a walk but rather a swim. It must be as strange for the fish as it is for us!"

During the NEEMO 7 mission, McKinley and the other aquanauts tested remote health care procedures on a patient simulator in cooperation with CMAS. From thousands of miles away at St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton, Anvari and other doctors guided the aquanauts as they performed surgeries on a patient simulator. Doctors in Hamilton also remotely controlled robotic instruments to do the work. The techniques simulated during NEEMO 7 can be used in remote settings on Earth, and may one day be used to respond to emergencies on the International Space Station, the moon, or Mars. The procedures simulated during the mission included ultrasound diagnosis, abscess drainage and a kidney stone extraction.

In September 2010 McKinley pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of drunk driving in Parry Sound, Ontario, on November 12, 2008.

Craig McKinley died suddenly by suicide on February 18, 2013.