Volume 5, Number 3     May/June 1997

  Moving Forward

Two Centers Focus on Humans in Space

AYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE will lead NASA's new National Space Biomedical Research Institute. NASA also has selected Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to serve as a NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) to research the biological effects of exposures to galactic and cosmic radiation.

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute will conduct focused biomedical research necessary to support human health in space exploration and development. The pilot program consists of a national consortium of premier academic and research organizations that will develop the solutions to medical risks associated with extended human space flight.

NASA and Baylor are expected to sign a five-year cooperative agreement with three five-year extensions in June. The 20-year agreement is worth approximately $145 million. The Johnson Space Center will sponsor the institute, making available to Baylor NASA's considerable knowledge and expertise in biomedical research and human space flight and the associated facilities and assets that have been developed over more than 35 years of human space flight.

The institute will maintain the scientific excellence of NASA's applied biomedical research through the scientific community's greater involvement in NASA's overall research program. Members of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute consortium are Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Rice University and Texas A&M University.

The institute's objectives include:

• Implementing a research plan to develop the knowledge and technologies required for long-duration space flight, including specific countermeasures
• Disseminating knowledge to the scientific community
• Facilitating science community access to NASA's space biomedical research expertise and facilities
• Transferring technology development and knowledge to the private sector

Research at the newest NSCORT will help define radiation risks experienced by space travelers and to develop effective methods to limit these risks. NASA plans to award the center approximately $1 million a year for five years. Lawrence Berkeley's selection is a competitive renewal award after an initial and very successful five-year period. Colorado State University is a collaborating partner.

Other NASA-funded NSCORTs include Northwestern University Medical School, vestibular research; Ohio State University, plant biology; University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, integrated physiology; Purdue University, bioregenerative life support; and Kansas State University, gravitational studies in cellular and developmental biology.

For more information, contact Michael Braukus at NASA Headquarters. Call 202/358-1979.
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