For graduate-level students interested in studying how spaceflight can affect humans, the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) Bioastronautics Graduate Education Summer Institute offers a hands-on glimpse into that world.
Students enrolled in NSBRI’s Graduate Education Program in Space Life Sciences left their universities this summer and came to NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) for four weeks to conduct laboratory research and participate in seminars and lectures in space medicine, human performance, nutrition, rehabilitation, the effects of radiation and other field-related areas.
"The space program needs young researchers interested in solving the health problems related to lunar and Mars missions," said Dr. Jeffrey P. Sutton, NSBRI director. "The Summer Institute provides the opportunity for students to learn directly from the scientists, astronauts, physicians and engineers working to solve the health challenges related to long-duration space travel."
The Summer Institute is part of NSBRI’s Graduate Education Program and includes one week of seminars and workshops led by various NSBRI and NASA researchers and by faculty at Baylor College of Medicine, followed by a research internship at JSC. While at JSC, graduate students also participate with NSBRI interns and postdoctoral fellows in a robust lecture series hosted by NASA’s Space Life Sciences Directorate that includes presentations by astronauts, scientists and NASA program leaders.
The Bioastronautics Graduate Education Summer Institute participants this summer are Alex Redd and Joshua Swift of Texas A&M University, and Dan Buckland and Erez Lieberman of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
NSBRI’s Graduate Education Program in Space Life Sciences is conducted jointly at Texas A&M and MIT through the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. The program enables students working toward a Ph.D. to focus on space life sciences and experience advanced courses in biomedical science and engineering, specifically as these fields relate to the space program.
The NSBRI, funded by NASA, is a consortium of institutions studying the health risks related to long-duration spaceflight and developing countermeasures to mitigate the risks. The Institute’s science, technology and education projects take place at more than 70 institutions across the United States. MIT and Texas A&M are both members of the NSBRI consortium.
NSBRI projects address space health concerns such as bone and muscle loss, cardiovascular changes, infection, balance problems, sleep disturbances, radiation exposure effects, nutrition, physical fitness, rehabilitation, remote-treatment medical technologies, and neurobehavioral and psychosocial factors.