Dr. Pelligra first came to NASA Ames Research Center in 1963 to participate in human research studies in various roles as principle investigator, volunteer subject, and eventually as the Ames Medical Monitor. He is currently the Medical Services Officer at Ames and serves as the Chairman of the Human Research Institutional Review Board, the Medical Review Officer for the Drug Free Workplace Program, the Medical Director of the Employee Assistance Program, and the Emergency Medical Services Coordinator for shuttle landings at Dryden/Edwards Air Force Base.

Dr. Pelligra attended undergraduate and graduate schools at the University of Vermont and received his medical degree from New York Medical College. He completed his formal training in Internal Medicine at the Albert Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center in New York City and received subsequent training and extensive experience in Emergency Medicine and Aerospace Medicine. He has published scientific and medical articles on a wide range of topics in the Journal of Aerospace Medicine, JAMA, the Journal of Applied Physiology, Neuropediatrics, Emergency Medicine, the Encyclopedia Brittanica and others. In 1996, Dr. Pelligra was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame, sponsored by NASA and the United States Space Foundation.

He currently resides in San Francisco with his wife, the former Olivia M. Fernandes.