Five Institutions Selected to Join NSBRI to Help Further Research Efforts

Five Institutions Selected to Join NSBRI to Help Further Research Efforts

RICE NEWS
November 4, 1999

To further efforts to solve the medical problems associated with long-term space flight, five institutions will join the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), of which Rice is a founding member.

The new NSBRI members, selected through a competitive review process, are Brookhaven National Laboratory, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the University of Washington. Thirty institutions applied for membership.

Researchers at the new institutions will become involved in NSBRI research planning activities during the next year and will compete for peer-reviewed project funding available in October 2000.

“The NSBRI is poised to greatly expand its research efforts in developing counter-measures that will allow long term manned spaceflight–specifically a Mars mission,” said Larry McIntire, chair of the Institute ofBiosciences and Bioengineering and the E.D. Butcher Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering. “Increasing the number of institute members and research focus areas is just a first step in this expansion. The NSBRI is complementary to Rice’s NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training in Gravitational Biology, housed in our Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering.”

Currently, the NSBRI’s research focuses on eight areas: bone loss; cardiovascular alterations; human performance and sleep; immunology, infection and hematology; muscle changes; balance problems; radiation effects; and technology development. Four new research areas–neurobehavioral and psychosocial factors; nutrition, physical fitness and rehabilitation; smart medical systems; and integrated human function–will be added in the next year.

The NSBRI, established in April 1997 following competitive selection by NASA, leads a national effort to carry out the research necessary to assure safe human exploration of space. In addition to Rice, its founding members are Baylor College of Medicine, which serves as headquarters, Harvard Medical School, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Applied Physics Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine and Texas A&M University.