NASA, Stanford experts to explore physiology for long-term space travel
BY VICTORIA STEINER
NASA and Stanford have launched a joint venture to develop technologies, instruments and systems to conduct physiological monitoring of humans in support of fundamental and applied space biology research.
Under the auspices of NASA Ames Research Center, the new National Center for Space Biological Technologies (NCSBT) will focus on enhancing capabilities for medical monitoring and fundamental biological experimentation for future space exploration.
"Our collaboration focuses cutting-edge technology and expertise on NASA's major challenges in biological technology," said the director of the newly established center, Antonio J. Ricco of Stanford. "To develop new sensors to track astronauts' health and new microdevices to monitor how space travel affects living organisms, we must work at the frontiers of medical diagnostics and research."
NASA Ames Research Center Director G. Scott Hubbard said: "We are extremely excited to be the host of such an important venture. By combining the talent and the knowledge of NASA scientists and academic researchers, we pursue discovery, innovating new technologies that will bring real solutions for space travel as well as for improving people's lives on Earth."
John Hines, Astrobionics Program Manager at NASA, said: "In light of current highly ambitious human exploration goals, there is now a greater need to advance human physiologic monitoring and to conduct efficient, relevant space biology experiments. To support exploration, we must deepen our understanding of the effects of prolonged spaceflight on humans and other organisms, from the level of molecules and cells to the entire creature."
The technical mission of this NASA-funded $7.5 million endeavor is to conduct and promote basic and applied research and development for a range of biological technologies important to NASA's current and future activities. The new venture is designed to provide numerous commercial spinoff opportunities for medical and biological analytical and monitoring systems.
Based at Stanford, NCSBT will include faculty, staff and students working in interdisciplinary teams. In the future, NCSBT activities also will take place in NASA Research Park, a research-and-development campus adjacent to NASA Ames Research Center.
"I'm absolutely thrilled," said NCSBT Principal Investigator Gregory Kovacs, an associate professor in Stanford's Department of Electrical Engineering. "This center is a chance for us in the academic community to participate in exciting life sciences research and human exploration," he added.
Kovacs called the partnership "an unprecedented opportunity to couple quality academic research with practical needs across the entire spectrum from immediate to long term. With the existing strong life sciences interest within NASA and the new space exploration vision, the time is right for such a center to bring together the right people and resources to assist NASA in reaching its scientific and medical goals."
One of the project's major technical goals is to harness modern sensors and data processing methods to provide focused and relevant information for a variety of tasks, including astronaut screening before extravehicular activity, launch and de-orbit monitoring, routine in-flight feedback to the crew members and ground training.
Environmental sensors will be developed and integrated with advances in direct monitoring of the status of human bodies. Ongoing efforts will include testing, improving and deploying advanced monitoring systems. The center also will contribute to expanding NASA's knowledge of the effects of microgravity, radiation and other space-related factors on living systems. This improved understanding of how space environments affect human bodies will help to develop sophisticated countermeasures and therapies for future space travelers.
"With the guidance of our advisory board members -- leaders from academia, industry, NASA and other government laboratories around the nation -- we hope some of the center's advances in biological technologies can form the basis for future advances in medical care," Ricco said.
Future developments of the NCSBT also will be transferable to the private sector for broader use of the newest medical technologies. The medical monitors developed by the center may find many uses in clinical medicine here on Earth. Such instruments could be used to diagnose cardiac disease, sleep disorders and a variety of other physical conditions.
"We are also developing an instrument to keep tabs on the immune systems of humans," ventured Hines. "Our immediate purpose is to meet NASA's needs, but then these novel devices can be transitioned into the commercial world to benefit the people who contribute their tax money to enable such research."
On Monday, Medical School Dean Philip Pizzo told about 100 well-wishers at a Faculty Club celebration that Stanford is an ideal partner in the new center: "[Interdisciplinary collaboration] is really the lifeblood of this institution." He cited the campuswide interdisciplinary Bio-X research program and the unique partnership between the School of Engineering and the School of Medicine that spawned Stanford's new Bioengineering Department as examples of successful teamwork.
Stanford medicine Professor Judith Swain, a researcher in the new NASA-Stanford center, concurred: "All the easy things have been done. All the hard things are left, and you've got to do [them] as a group."
Victoria Steiner is a writer in the Public Affairs Office at NASA Ames Research Center. Dawn Levy contributed to this report.
