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2018 Tissue Chips in Space Projects

In October 2018, NCATS, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space announced four two-year awards for approximately $4.98 million to use tissue chip technology to better understand the mechanisms of disease and the effectiveness of potential treatments in the extreme environment of space. The projects are part of a collaboration to conduct translational research on board the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory.

Learn more about the projects awarded in 2018:

Emulate, Inc., Boston

Organ-Chips as a Platform for Studying Effects of Space on Human Enteric Physiology: Interactions of Epithelial Mucosa with Sensory Neurons and Microbiome

Principal Investigators: Christopher D. Hinojosa, M.S., and Katia Karalis, M.D., Ph.D.  
Implementation Partner: Space Tango  
Grant Number: 1-UG3-TR-002595-01

First Flight: March 6, 2020

University of Florida, Gainesville

Electrical Stimulation of Human Myocytes in Microgravity: An In Vitro Model to Evaluate Therapeutics to Counteract Muscle Wasting

Principal Investigator: Siobhan Malany, Ph.D.  
Implementation Partner: Space Tango  
Grant Number: 1-UG3-TR-002598-01

First Flight: Dec. 6, 2020    
Second Flight: July 14, 2022

Stanford University, Stanford, California

Effect of Microgravity on Drug Responses Using Engineered Heart Tissues

Principal Investigators: Joseph C. Wu, M.D., Ph.D., and Beth L. Pruitt, Ph.D., M.Sc.  
Implementation Partner:  BioServe Space Technologies at the University of Colorado, Boulder  
Grant Number: 1-UG3-TR-002588-01

First Flight: Dec. 6, 2020

University of Washington, Seattle and Johns Hopkins University

A Human iPSC-Based 3-D Microphysiological System for Modeling Cardiac Dysfunction in Microgravity*

Principal Investigator: Deok-Ho Kim, Ph.D., M.S.  
Implementation Partners: The Ohio State University and BioServe Space Technologies at the University of Colorado, Boulder  
Grant Number: 1-UG3-EB-028094-01

First Flight: March 6, 2020

*Funded by NIH’s NIBIB and NCATS.

Last updated on January 30, 2024