NASA NTRS2024
To enable deep space exploration and sustained human presence in space, the NASA Human Research Program’s (HRP) Space Radiation Element (SRE) funds research to characterize and mitigate adverse health outcomes from exposure to space radiation that include risks of carcinogenesis, cardiovascular disease, and central nervous system decrements. Recently, the SRE was tasked with supporting multiple HRP Elements with innovative and enabling projects to inform risk characterization, facilitate mitigation activities, and support crew health and performance. These projects, such as precision health initiative, NASA Omics Archive (NOA) and human sample repositories, are agnostic to any HRP Element, hence the name, Cross-Risk Integration Projects (CRIP). CRIP serves 3 broad purposes: - Services: Generate samples and data and manage the receipt, inventory, archive, and ultimate redistribution of biospecimens created in HRP-funded spaceflight and analog research activities—includes NASA Omics Archive project and various human and animal sample repositories. - Method Development: Identify and evaluate new-to-NASA research or analysis methods or techniques that could fundamentally improve existing or planned research efforts—includes the Translational Radiation Research and Countermeasures Project. - Enabling Capabilities: Demonstrate real-world application by adapting, adopting, and/or developing capabilities to benefit crew health and performance and improve risk mitigation—includes Precision Health Initiative (Pharmacogenomics) and advanced biological systems and engineered tissue microsystems initiative (tissue chips, organ-on-a-chip). To identify new technologies, future work, and solicitations, the SRE organizes themed sessions at annual HRP Investigators’ Workshops (IWS). These technical interchange meetings (TIMs) provide a venue for the scientific community to present ongoing work and engage in open discussion of results, limitations of current approaches, and incorporation of novel experimental strategies, model systems, and other innovative techniques. Here, a summary of the studies presented at the SRE-sponsored mini-TIM at the HRP IWS along with the goals and objectives of the CRIP projects is communicated. The 90-min TIM had 6 speakers who presented impressive novel ideas and work, some of which are funded under CRIP by the Space Radiation Element.