Translational Research Institute for Space Health

TRISH was founded in 2016,[3] and Baylor College of Medicine was selected as the lead institution in an agreement with a maximum potential value of $246 million for a six-year performance period.[6] TRISH succeeded the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), a similar research institute also led by Baylor College of Medicine.[7]

In 2021, NASA opted to renew TRISH, granting additional funding of up to $134.6 million between 2022 and 2028.[3] When NASA reviewed TRISH in December 2020, it found that “TRISH had developed and transitioned 34 completed astronaut health and protection projects to NASA and had connected 415 first-time NASA researchers with opportunities to develop space health solutions.”[3]

TRISH supports NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP), founded in 2005, as outlined in TRISH’s strategic plan.[8] The goals of the HRP are to provide knowledge and technology to mitigate risks to human health and performance and develop tools to enable safe and productive human space exploration.[9]

In January 2023, The Washington Post reported an interactive feature on the known effects of space travel to the human body, and noted TRISH’s work. In the article, TRISH Chief Medical Officer Emmanuel Urquieta stated “Space is just not very hospitable to the human body,” explaining that humans evolved on Earth with abundant gravity and low radiation, whereas space is characterized by minimal gravity and higher radiation exposure.[10]

This environment can lead astronauts to experience space adaptation syndrome, muscle atrophy, decreased blood volume, altered immunity and DNA damage from radiation exposure, loss of bone, sensory changes, psychological stress, and inflammation, among other potential complications. Interventions to prevent these outcomes include routine exercise while in space, as well as pharmaceutical and dietary supplements.[10] Additionally, changes in blood flow and digestion rate are likely to affect how the body processes and tolerates medications, an area requiring further study.[11]

Trips to the Moon and Mars will require astronauts to spend more time in space than ever before, potentially exacerbating known deleterious effects of space travel to the human body. In April 2022, NPR’s Brendan Byrne described one of TRISH’s goals as “to understand how and why the body changes while in space and prepar[e] future astronauts for those health effects. That's important to understand if space agencies like NASA want to send humans to places like the Moon or Mars. Those trips could be longer than Vande Hei [‘s] almost yearlong mission. And the environments on the lunar surface and the red planet will be harsh, with limited medical resources.”[4]

TRISH’s leadership includes executive director Dorit B. Donoviel, Ph.D., deputy director and chief innovation officer James Hury, M.B.A., chief scientific officer Jennifer Fogarty, Ph.D., and chief medical officer Emmanuel Urquieta, M.D., M.S.[12]

TRISH’s board of directors includes chair Jeffrey P. Sutton, M.D., Ph.D., along with members Barbara Wold, Ph.D., and Elazer Edelman M.D., Ph.D.[12]

• Baylor College of Medicine
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• California Institute of Technology

TRISH researchers pursue scientific research in several fields, including:

• Cellular and Molecular Biology[15]
• Behavioral Health[16]
• Environment, Food and Medication[17]
• Medical Technology[18]
• Radiation[19]

As part of its EXPAND (Enhancing eXploration Platforms and Analog Definition) Program, TRISH has partnered with several commercial space providers on private spaceflight missions to gather spaceflight participant health data before, during, and after space travel.[20][21] These may include tests on motor function, eye health, motion sickness, and cognitive wellbeing, among others.

TRISH-funded researchers have collected biomedical data from spaceflight participants aboard the Inspiration4 mission, the Axiom Mission 1, and Space Adventures’ MZ Mission.[22][23] [24] TRISH researchers will also collect biomedical data from astronauts on the upcoming Polaris Dawn and Ax-2 missions.[25]

Biomedical data gathered from private spaceflight participants adds to the diversity and volume of data available for space health researchers.[26] TRISH maintains a centralized research database, the EXPAND Program, which hosts pre-, in-, and post-flight health data from multiple commercial space flights.[27][28]

TRISH leadership regularly appears at conferences and workshops, including SXSW,[29] HRP’s annual Investigator’s Workshop, and conferences and meetings hosted by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA), International Astronautical Congress, and others.[30]

TRISH offers funding for innovative research and technology projects through several mechanisms. Funding opportunities include the Biomedical Research Advances for Space Health (BRASH) solicitation, Industry solicitation, Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, and Catalyst Grant Program. TRISH’s open solicitations are housed on the Institute’s Grant Research Integrated Dashboard (GRID), an online portal, or the NASA NSPIRES portal.[31] Previous solicitation topics have requested proposals on topics such as endogenous repair,[31] metabolic manipulation,[31] microphysiological systems,[32] such as Tissue on a Chip, [33] and technologies in support of autonomous health care.[34]

• Translational Research Institute for Space Health
• The Human Body in Space
• Open Funding Opportunities With TRISH
• TRISH Strategic Plan