Rachel M. Lance, PhD, is an engineer and blast injury specialist who teaches biomechanics as an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and serves as a consultant for military diving research projects at Duke University. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, where she focused on the fluid mechanics of the respiratory system. Before returning to graduate school, Dr. Lance spent several years as a biomedical engineer for the United States Navy, working to build specialized underwater equipment and breathing systems for use by navy divers, SEALs, and Marine Force Recon personnel. She finished her doctoral studies at Duke University while working as a navy civil servant, and her research focused on injury patterns from underwater explosions. Her work presented the first equations to predict the risk of injury and fatality from underwater explosions and has already received numerous international citations.