The Academy of Underwater Arts & Sciences has selected Duke Anesthesiology’s Richard Moon, MD, as a 2025 recipient of the New Orleans Grand Isle (NOGI) Award – hailed as the Oscar of the oceanic realm.
This prestigious honor recognizes ocean-related leaders/stand outs in the diving community who have made a global impact on diving in the fields of art, distinguished service, environment, science, and sports/education. Award recipients are selected based on their record of accomplishments and excellence in the diving world.
“This is a tremendous honor, which is due to the fabulous faculty, research staff and students with whom I have had the pleasure of working,” says Moon, professor of anesthesiology and medicine, as well as the medical director of Duke’s Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology.
Moon’s NOGI Award is in the field of science. His studies have encompassed the study of the physiological effects of immersion and the predictors of arterial carbon dioxide during underwater physical activity. He has dedicated efforts to examining the causes and prevention of immersion pulmonary edema found in swimmers and divers. He is currently engaged in developing an experimental breathing gas (perfluoromethane) aimed at reducing decompression requirements following heliox dives.