International Space Station National Laboratory (The ISS National Lab and NASA have announced a new call for proposals, the National Lab Research Call (NLRA), to provide up to $4 million across two to three grants for projects that leverage the space environment and technology to develop treatments for diseases on Earth.
The collaborative call will focus on projects that provide enhanced models to study disease development and progression, address population and disease heterogeneity, drug screening and development, nanotechnology-like drug delivery, and drug resistance and toxicity.
The duo are exploring projects focused on developing treatments for cancer, immune, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and muscle and bone diseases.
The NLRA notes that ISS National Laboratory resources can be used to accelerate disease models in microgravity, mitigating many of the challenges often faced in translating research findings into clinical applications.
“Space-based research has a long history of contributing to progress on Earth,” Lisa Carnell, director of NASA’s Biophysical Sciences Division, said in a statement.
“Our continued call for Igniting Innovations has the potential to contribute to the next big leap in disease treatment. We are pleased to collaborate with ISS National Laboratory in this effort to address some of the greatest health challenges facing the world today.”
of Solicitation It will open on August 15th and close on March 3, 2025.
Larger trends
Another organization that funds space health research projects to improve treatment for diseases on Earth is the Space Health Translational Research Institute.Trish.
TRISH’s Catalyst Grant program is an ongoing call for proposals from organizations developing technologies for space medicine, including innovative projects that address a critical need, advance concepts with positive preliminary findings, and fall outside the scope of an organization’s regular solicitation.
Other companies working with NASA on space health technology research projects include Elon Musk’s SpaceX, medical video game company LevelEx, and virtual reality-based mental health company XRHealth.
