NASA Selects 12 Research Proposals in Radiation Biology

Sept. 11, 2006

Michael Braukus/Beth Dickey
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979/2087

William Jeffs
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111

RELEASE: 06-313

NASA SELECTS 12 RESEARCH PROPOSALS IN RADIATION BIOLOGY

NASA will fund a dozen new research proposals to better understand and
reduce the risks that crews of future moon and Mars missions could
face from space radiation. The total potential value of the selected
proposals is approximately $14 million.

The health risks of radiation during space travel may include cancer,
degenerative tissue damage -- including damage to the central nervous
system -- and acute radiation sickness. The new research may help in
the development of effective shielding or biological countermeasures
for radiation exposure.

The research is part of NASA's Space Radiation Program. The goal of
the program is to assure astronauts can safely live and work in the
space radiation environment, anywhere, anytime. Space radiation is
different from forms of radiation encountered on Earth. Radiation in
space consists of high-energy protons, heavy ions and secondary
byproducts created when the protons and heavy ions pass through
spacecraft shielding and human tissue.

Since the data available on human exposure to these radiation types
are limited, the risks of exposure are derived from an understanding
based on radiation physics and radiation biology. The more research
data collected, the more confident NASA can be that astronauts will
be protected.

The 12 new research areas were selected by the Space Radiation Program
from 82 proposals received in response to a NASA Research
Announcement. All of the proposals were peer-reviewed by scientific
and technical experts from academia, government, and industry.

The selected principal investigators, their organizations, and their
proposal titles are:

* Edouard Azzam, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey,
Newark, N.J., The Role of Gap-Junction Communication and Oxidative
Metabolism in the Biological Effects of Space Radiation

* Susan Bailey, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo.,
Telomeric Proteins in the Radiation/DNA Damage Response

* Richard Britten, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Va.,
Proteomic Aided Investigation of the Mechanistic Basis For
HZE-Induced Cognitive Impairment and the Development of Diagnostic
Biomarkers

* David Chen, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas,
Mechanisms of the Repair of HZE-Induced DNA Double-Strand Breaks in
Human Cells

* Albert Fornace, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mouse
Models Approach for Intestinal Tumorigenesis Estimates by Space
Radiation

* Kathryn Held, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mechanisms for
Induction of Bystander Effects by High Energy Particles in Cells and
Tissues

* Fiorenza Ianzini, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, Role of
High-LET Radiation-Induced Mitotic Catastrophe in Mutagenesis:
Implication for Carcinogenesis

* Amy Kronenberg, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley,
Calif., Comparative Analysis of Charged Particle-Induced Autosomal
Mutations in Murine Tissues and Cells

* Bernard Rabin, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore,
Neurochemical and Behavioral Effects of Exposure to Heavy Particles

* John Redpath, University of California Irvine, Irvine, Calif., High
Energy Proton Dose-Rate and Mixed Field Effects on Neoplastic
Transformation in vitro

* Jerry Shay, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas,
Risk Assessment of Space Radiation-Enhanced Colon Tumorigenesis

* Betsy Sutherland, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Long Island, N.Y.,
DNA Damage Clusters in Human Cell Transformation Induced by Single or
Multiple Space Radiation Ion Exposures

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home


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