The International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory provides access to a unique environment for fundamental science that leads to new discoveries and advances current understanding in various scientific disciplines. At the 11th annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC), a panel session will bring together experts to discuss how the ISS National Lab enables fundamental science research not possible on Earth. ISSRDC 2022 will be held July 25-28, 2022, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The panel session, which will take place on the first day of the conference, will be led by Stephanie George, U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) tissue engineering program director. The ISS National Lab has collaborated with the NSF Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) Division on two long-standing solicitations to leverage the ISS to advance fundamental science, with one solicitation focused on the physical sciences area of transport phenomena and the other focused on tissue engineering and mechanobiology.
The panel will feature several investigators who have conducted ISS National Lab-sponsored research funded by NSF through these solicitations. Panelists include:
- Tammy Chang, associate professor in the department of surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, who is examining how microgravity may be used to develop large, vascularized tissue grafts that act as functional liver tissue. Results could help to advance tissue engineering efforts for organ transplant applications.
- Ngan Huang, associate professor in the department of cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University and principal investigator at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, who is developing a model of sarcopenia (muscle loss due to aging) using engineered skeletal muscle in microgravity. Such a model could be used to study muscle deterioration and test potential treatments for conditions that cause muscle wasting.
- Ya-Ting T. Liao, assistant professor in urban and environmental studies at Case Western Reserve University, who is studying flame spread in confined spaces and the interactions between spreading flames and the surrounding walls. A better fundamental understanding of flame spread in confined spaces could lead to better infrastructure design and improved fire safety codes, which could help prevent injury, save lives, and reduce property loss from fire.
- Eric M. Furst, professor and department chair of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Delaware, who is examining self-assembly of colloidal particles within fluid systems, a phenomenon critical to the development of advanced electronics. Results could help lead to the development of cost-efficient and scalable functional nanomaterials for use in smaller electronic, mechanical, and electromechanical devices.
ISSRDC is hosted by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS), manager of the ISS National Lab; NASA; and the American Astronautical Society (AAS). Join us to hear more about the benefits of doing fundamental science on the ISS and how space-based research can lead to discoveries that improve life on Earth. Please visit the official registration page for additional information and to register for ISSRDC.
