Michael J. Manyak

Michael J. Manyak, MD, is an explorer, author, urologist, and corporate medical executive from Delray Beach, FL. He is the Chief Medical Advisor for Crisis Response for multiple Fortune 500 companies and the Greater Washington (DC) Board ofTrade. Recognized as a Distinguished Eagle Scout - an honor accorded 0.1% of Eagles – Dr. Manyak developed the Exploration Merit Badge and serves as Vice President for the National Eagle Scout Association, directing the NESA World Explorer Program, which sends nationally selected Eagle Scouts on expeditions. 

A National Fellow of The Explorers Club, Dr. Manyak served on the Board of Directors for ten years, received the Sweeney Medal, and is Associate Editor of The Explorers Journal, where he contributes a column on Expedition Medicine. Dr. Manyak was involved in astronaut healthcare while on NASA’s Aerospace Medicine and Occupational Health Advisory Committee. 

In the field, Dr. Manyak dove to the Titanic wreck site in the Russian MIR submersible as the medical director for the RMS Titanic salvage expedition. He also led a scientific expedition to the Ndoki rain forest in the Congo Basin in a collaborative effort with the World Wildlife Fund, dove the Spanish treasure galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha in search of artifacts, and was the ship physician on the icebreaker MV Polar Star for an Antarctic expedition with Students On Ice. He was a medical officer on an expedition to the deepest canyon in the world in Peru, on the first scientific dive in Mongolia in Asia’s second largest lake, on an expedition to evaluate a new spectacular finding of early human footprints in Tanzania that is now a World Heritage site, did a site visit to the remote Amazon Yasuni Reserve, and rode camels in the Gobi Desert observing the newly discovered, very highly endangered wild camel. 

Dr. Manyak has been granted eleven patents for his inventions. He has made numerous appearances on national networks and has published over 170 refereed journal articles. His critically acclaimed book Lizard Bites & Street Riots about travel health and safety was a finalist for the USA Best Books Awards and the International Book Awards for travel guides and essays in 2016.