The following news release was prepared by Baylor College of Medicine.
HOUSTON-Biomedical and life sciences research on how space affects astronauts will play a key role in President Bush’s innovative new space initiative to travel to the moon and Mars, said scientists at the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) in Houston.
Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is the lead institution in a research consortium of more than 70 institutions across the United States.
“We are excited to be an essential part of President Bush’s new space initiative, which will enhance the health and well-being of astronauts in space and on their return to earth,” said Dr. Bobby R. Alford, chairman and chief executive officer of the NSBRI and chair of otorhinolaryngology at BCM. “It launches the United States into a new era of unparalleled scientific and technological advancement.”
Established in 1997 through a NASA competition, the NASA-sponsored NSBRI, governed by the consortium of 12 leading research-intensive biomedical institutions, involves 250 scientists working together to prevent or solve health problems related to long-duration space travel and prolonged exposure to microgravity. The group’s primary mission objective is to ensure safe and productive human space flight.
The NSBRI studies the health and psychological challenges men and women will face on long-duration exploration missions. Many of the discoveries and solutions will be of direct benefit to people on earth. The research program addresses problems associated with prolonged exposure to the microgravity environment, such as bone and muscle loss, cardiovascular changes, remote medical care, sleep disruption and human performance, immunology and infection, balance and orientation, radiation exposure, neurobehavioral and psychosocial factors, nutrition, physical fitness and rehabilitation.
The NSBRI is currently conducting 100 research and education projects with leading institutions across the nation. The NSBRI also is working with NASA to develop a “Critical Path Roadmap” to identify and prioritize the most critical risks confronting astronauts during extended space flight.
NASA and NSBRI have also implemented a joint effort to improve the delivery of quality medical care in flight. This NSBRI/NASA space medicine partnership will test medical technologies developed by NSBRI and train crew and flight surgeons to monitor, diagnose and treat in-flight medical emergencies.
“One of the major problems we are going to have to overcome with space travel are the limitations of the human body, such as radiation in space, the isolation of long term space flight, just about every system in the body,” said former astronaut Dr. David Hilmers, assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at BCM. “The realization of the goals that President Bush outlined with his space initiative will make it incumbent upon us to solve these problems. This underscores the importance of the research that is being done at Baylor College of Medicine and the NSBRI.”