dr. Frauke Tillmans

Dr. Frauke Tillmans is the Research Director at Divers Alert Network (DAN). She has a PhD in Human Biology and oversees DAN’s in-house research initiatives in injury monitoring, diving physiology, and population health, as well as the DAN Internship and the DAN Research Grant Program. A current focus for DAN includes acute diving injuries as well as long-term health effects of diving and extreme exposures. An avid and well-traveled diver herself, she has become DAN’s point of contact for national and global collaborations in diving-related research. Before joining DAN in 2019, Dr. Tillmans participated in projects covering a variety of medical and health aspects in recreational and military diving.  

In addition to her research experience, Frauke is also an experienced public safety diver, dive safety officer for scientific diving, rebreather- and cave-trained, and has been a scuba instructor since 2009 for various training agencies. She loves sharing her experience, knowledge, and passion with the diving community. Tillmans’ commitment to safety is apparent in almost every activity she pursues and when she is not diving or conducting research, Frauke is an active volunteer firefighter and EMT in her new-found home in North Carolina.