AIAA LA-LV March Dinner Meeting

International Space Station

Microgravity Space Medicine

Functional Effects of Spaceflight on Human Health

by

Featured Faculty from

Loma Linda University School of Medicine:

Mary Kearns-Jonker, Xiao Wen Mao,
Greg Nelson and Michael Pecaut

The Topic

International Space Station

Microgravity Space Medicine 

Microgravity experiments on the International Space Station have been both critical and fascinating for cutting edge science and technology. Understanding the impact of the space environment on human health is necessary to ensure the safety of human spaceflight as human beings expand their efforts to explore other planets. The panel will discuss the impact of the spaceflight environment on the cardiovascular system including stem cells that facilitate cardiovascular repair and regeneration, the human brain and vasculature, the immune system and vision. Attendees will have the opportunity to:

• Learn about recent and ongoing experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) and why studies in space are relevant for human health on Earth

• Meet the leading scientist on the Spx11 study where an age-related impact was identified on cardiovascular stem cells in the space environment

• Meet the leading scientist on the Spx12 study aimed at understanding how spaceflight affects the eye

• Meet the leading scientist for NASA’s Human Research Program Space Radiation Element (central nervous system discipline)

• Meet the leading scientist on several flight experiments studying how the immune system functions in space

• Network with the speaker(s), leading space medicine scientists, aerospace professionals, business professionals, educators, students, and enthusiasts

The Speakers/Panelists

Mary Kearns-Jonker, PhD

Associate Professor, Dept of Pathology and Human Anatomy, Co-Director, Cancer, Development and Regenerative Medicine Program, Loma Linda University School of Medicine

Dr. Kearns-Jonker completed her graduate training at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and her postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health. She is currently an Associate Professor at Loma Linda University where she developed a collaborative basic science/clinical team studying methods designed to optimize the application of stem cells isolated from the human heart for the repair of congenital defects and/or damaged cardiac tissue in adults following myocardial infarction. This research team recently launched neonatal and adult cardiovascular stem cells into space on SpaceX11. Astronaut Peggy Whitson cultured the cells on the ISS in this study designed to identify the effect of microgravity on cardiovascular stem cells isolated from both human neonates and adults. The results of this study included several unexpected and beneficial effects induced by microgravity that have the potential to improve the outcome of cell-based cardiovascular repair for patients on Earth.

Xiao Wen Mao, MD

Associate Research Professor, Department of Basic Sciences, Division of Biomedical Engineering Sciences (BMES), Loma Linda University

Dr. Mao is an Associate Research Professor within the School of Medicine at Loma Linda University. She has over 15 years of experience in space and radio-biology studies and her research focuses on radiation and space environment-induced normal vascular changes in the central nervous system. She has also developed stereological methods for unbiased mathematical characterization of vasculature with collaborators. She has involved in a number of space shuttle experiments to determine the impact of spaceflight on brain and retina microvasculature. More recently, she has participated in space x-12 rodent study as one of the principal investigators and the LLU lead. This research focuses on the role that radiation, microgravity and drastic changes in fluid distribution play in eye since many astronauts return to Earth with vision problems. Her research approaches combine advanced imaging, neurobiological analysis, complex “omics‘’ analysis and behavioral endpoints. Overall, her studies have contributed knowledge that is relevant not only to missions in space, but also to radiotherapy and radiation exposures due to accidents or terrorist acts.

Gregory A. Nelson, PhD

Professor, Departments of Basic Sciences and Radiation Medicine, Loma Linda University

Dr. Nelson was originally trained as a cell and developmental biologist, and is currently a radiation biologist who focuses on the unique biological responses to charged particle radiation which dominates the space environment, and is also used in radiation therapy. His overall goal is to understand how the structured patterns of energy deposition by charged particles elicits responses unlike those from conventional radiation sources such as X-rays. He has used diverse biological models from C elegans nematodes, to cultured mammalian cells and animals including mice, rats and rabbits. His current focus is on functional responses of the nervous system and microvasculature following low level exposures such as found in space. He has served on several national and international review and advisory panels including the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, and is currently the Central Nervous System Discipline Lead scientist for NASA’s Human Research Program Space Radiation Element. He has been principal investigator on two spaceflight experiments using C elegans and co-investigator on three more STS flights using mice

Michael J. Pecaut, PhD

Vice Chair & Professor, Division of Biomedical Engineering Sciences, Loma Linda University

Dr. Pecaut studies the impact of spaceflight on the immune system. As a graduate student, he studied gravitational load and physiological/psychological stress components of this environment. As a post-doc and independent investigator, his focus broadened to include the low-dose/low-dose-rate radiation inherent to solar particle events and galactic cosmic rays. His background as a biomedical engineer gives him a unique perspective in understanding how these physical phenomena influence biological endpoints. He has supported experiments flown on thirteen space shuttle missions including rodent models on STS-77, -108, -118, and -135 and was involved with two separate ISS experiments. He has strong working relationships with the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at the Brookhaven National Lab, the Ames Research Center, and the Kennedy Space Center. His team has shown that the spaceflight environment influences immunocyte distribution, ex vivo response to antigen, and cytokine expression, possibly due to changes in metabolism, oxidative stress, and activation of anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Immunocytes interact with cells and tissues of all physiological systems, locally (in the microenvironment) and systemically (via the blood and sympathetic innervation). Dr. Pecaut believes an integrative, “immuno-physiological” approach is crucial in spaceflight biology and includes transcriptomics, metabolomics and pathway analysis in his studies.