Hopkins Scientists To Direct Research Into Long Spaceflights

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) has reappointed two scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to help lead nationwide research teams focused on the mental and cardiovascular risks associated with long-term spaceflight.

The teams, to be based at dozens of institutions in the United States, will be organized by NSBRI, a consortium supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The two are Joseph V. Brady, Ph.D., professor of behavioral biology and neuroscience, and Artin A. Shoukas, Ph.D., professor of biomedical engineering, physiology, and anesthesia and critical care medicine.

Brady will be associate team leader for the Neurobehavioral and Psychosocial Factors Team, his second term in this position. This group’s focus is on identifying how stress and isolation affect crew health, safety, and productivity during long-duration space missions, as well as on tools to detect and alleviate such risks, enhance performance and improve quality of life.

Shoukas will be associate team leader for the Cardiovascular Alterations Team, his third term in this post. His group’s work will look at the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the heart and blood vessels and on the development of therapies for the loss of physical fitness that typically accompanies long-term space travel. Their research may also lead to strategies that can slow or reverse cardiovascular aging on Earth.

NSBRI’s science, technology and education projects take place at more than 60 institutions across the United States, all of which, including Johns Hopkins, are members of the consortium.

Other NSBRI teams address space health concerns such as bone loss and muscle weakening, radiation exposure, neurobehavioral and psychosocial factors, remote medical care and research capabilities, and habitability and performance issues such as sleep cycles and lunar dust exposure.