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On May 16, 2024, TRISH hosted the workshop to help illuminate the potential needs and technologies for helping maintain brain health during spaceflight missions. TRISH hosted speakers from both NASA operations and research settings complemented by a wide range of biomedical researchers focusing on cutting-edge brain assessment and stimulation technologies, as well as companies with novel ways to support brain-based health and performance in space.

Goals of the workshop:

• NASA operations and research personnel provided insights into current needs and desires regarding brain assessment, monitoring and stimulation.
• Researchers provided state-of-the-art overviews of the latest as well as up-and-coming technologies in domains such as MRI, EEG, NIRS, ultrasound, behavior, and various types of brain stimulation.
• Participants developed a document summarizing the current state-of-the-art for brain assessment and stimulation as is relevant to NASA needs.

Recordings:

• Dorit Donoviel, Ph.D., TRISH
• Gary Strangman, Ph.D., TRISH/MGH
• Lonnie Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., TRISH/MIT

• Medical Operations: William Tarver, M.D., NASA
• Psychological Operations: James Picano, M.D., NASA
• Research - HFBP: Ajitkumar Mulavara, Ph.D., NASA
• Research - HHC: Brandon Macias, Ph.D., NASA

• Overview: Lonnie Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., TRISH/MIT
• Advanced MRI: Berkin Bilgic, Ph.D., MGH
• Portable MRI: Clarissa Cooley, Ph.D., MGH
• EEG: Michael Funke, M.D., Ph.D., UT-HSC
• NIRS: Andrew Dunn, Ph.D., UT Austin
• Ultrasound: Christy Holland, Ph.D., UCincinnati
• "Indirect" Approaches: Walter Greenleaf, Ph.D., Stanford

• Overview of Stimulation/CM Techniques: Gary Strangman, Ph.D., TRISH/MGH
• Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (tES): Emiliano Santarnecchi, Ph.D., MGH
• Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS): Donna Roberts, M.D., MUSC/ISSNL
• Photobiomodulation (PBM): Paolo Cassano, M.D., Ph.D., MGH
• Low Intensity Ultrasound Brain Stimulation: Seung-Schik Yoo, Ph.D., MBA, BWH

• Overview: Gary Strangman, Ph.D., TRISH/MGH
• Glymphatics MRI: Rachael Seidler, Ph.D., UF
• Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI): Nataliya Kosmyna, Ph.D., MIT
• Non-contact brain/body imaging: Ron Haupt, MS, Lincoln Labs
• Clinical neuroocular metrics: Avantika Naidu, Ph.D., MachineMD
• Real-time, non-contact cognition monitoring: Melissa Hunfalvy, Ph.D., Harmoneyes

In October 2022, the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) and ������Ƶ of Medicine's Center for Space Medicine hosted a nutritional psychiatry discussion with Dr. Felice Jacka, OAM, professor and director of the Food & Mood Centre at Deakin University in Australia. Dr. Jacka is also the founder and president of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research.

Food and nutrition can change your behavioral health, and astronaut behavioral health is a major concern for long-duration space missions. Over the last decade, Dr. Jacka and her colleagues have made significant contributions to their field by identifying key biomarkers and metabolites used to develop predictive algorithms and guide interventions for mood disorders such as depression. This work has implications for preventing and managing human spaceflight risks.

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"Why We Go” is a limited discussion series examining interplanetary exploration through conversations with diverse experts optimistically answering the question, why do humans go to space? The series speaks to the hard science and the human elements, allowing us to think holistically about human society and our path to the future. “Why We Go” is a collaboration between the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) at ������Ƶ of Medicine and .

Listen, learn and launch into the awe of human exploration.

Recordings

On Aug. 7, 2020 the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) presented a virtual workshop separating the science from fiction of suspended animation. 

The workshop discussed the potential of using synthetic torpor for long-term human space exploration applications by exploring four research areas: natural torpor, synthetic torpor, torpor genetics, and metabolic control in space. 

View recorded presentations below:

Setting the Stage: Space Torpor
Emmanuel Urquieta, M.D., M.S.
Deputy Chief Scientist, TRISH

Evolutionary Genetics of Hibernation
Sandy Martin, Ph.D.
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
 

Hibernation Neuroprotection
Matteo Cerri, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Bologna, Italy

Hibernation: Metabolic Rate Regulation
Kenneth Storey, Ph.D.
Carleton University, Canada

Hibernation and Gut Microbiome
Matthew Regan, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin Madison

Terrestrial Uses and State Of The Art of Clinical Targeted Temperature Management
Claire Nordeen, M.D.
Bartlett Regional Hospital Juneau, Alaska

Hibernation Neuroprotection
Kelly Drew, Ph.D.
University of Alaska Fairbanks

Panel Discussion
Presentation and

On July 13, 2020, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) co-hosted a one-day workshop exploring the connection between the microbiome, healthcare and the future of human exploration.

View recorded presentations below:

Welcome, Introduction and Context
Steve Mayo, Ph.D., Caltech and TRISH
Dorit Donoviel, Ph.D., TRISH
Sarkis Mazmanian, Ph.D., Caltech

Perspective on the Field and Effects of Radiation on Microbiome
Rob Knight, Ph.D., University of California San Diego

Gut microbes in Multiple Sclerosis: Structural, Functional and Integrative Analysis
Sergio Baranzini, Ph.D., UCSF

Gut-Brain Connections to Behaviors in Mice
Sarkis Mazmanian, Ph.D., Caltech

Gut-Brain Connections to Behaviors in Humans 
Emeran Mayer, M.D., Ph.D., UCLA

Microbial Pathways to Metabolite Production 
Michael Fischbach, Ph.D., Stanford

Microbiome Sequencing Technologies
Joe Petrosino, Ph.D., ������Ƶ of Medicine

Autism Clinical Trials
Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, Ph.D., ASU

Gut Bacteria Human co-Metabolism - Implications in Neuropsychiatric Diseases
Rima Kaddurah-Daouk, Ph.D., Duke

 
Radiation Effects on Microbiome / Metabolome
Amrita Cheema, Ph.D., Georgetown

 
Investment in Microbiome Space
Denise Kelly, Ph.D., Seventure

Microbiome in Cancer and COVID-19
Stephanie Culler, Ph.D., Persephone Biosciences

Regulatory Considerations for Microbiome-Based Therapeutics
Paul Carlson, Ph.D., FDA

NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) hosted its annual Investigators’ Workshop (IWS) Jan. 27-30, 2020 at the Galveston Island Convention Center (GICC) in Galveston, TX. The workshop’s goal is to provide an informal, collegial atmosphere for cross-disciplinary interaction. The theme of the workshop was “Human Exploration Small Steps Lead to Giant Leaps: Translating Research into Space Exploration.”

TRISH showcased its funded projects through a TRISH-specific track at the 2020 HRP Investigators’ Workshop. This track included 13 multidisciplinary and joint-element panels featuring over 43 TRISH projects. TRISH also ran 26 technology demonstrations during the afternoon poster sessions.

In collaboration with NASA, the Translational Research Institute for Space Health live streamed and recorded the plenary sessions. They are available below.

The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) partnered with for a special event recognizing the 50th anniversary of one of humanity's greatest accomplishments: the Apollo 11 mission, which culminated in the first human bootprints on the moon.

Health: Moon and Beyond was held July 20, 2019. The event included a panel discussion of space health topics from the moon landing to a future  journey to Mars. VIP guests included retired NASA astronauts and Dr. , TRISH director Dr. Dorit Donoviel and Dr. Jeffrey Sutton, director of ������Ƶ of Medicine's Center for Space Medicine. A special screening of the Smithsonian film The Day We Walked on the Moon followed the discussion.

View the .

The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) and the MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative held a workshop titled "The Spaces in Space: Optimizing Behavioral Health and Cognitive Performance in Confined Environments" on Feb. 6-7, 2019.

The workshop highlighted the many opportunities to re-think the design of personal environments for their potential to keep us well and enhance cognitive performance. The spaces we design for space travel are new frontiers for health. Invited participants included leading engineers, academic researchers (in the fields of psychology, neuroscience, ecology, and AI), behavioral healthcare industry innovators, interior designers, architects, and entrepreneurs developing new technologies.

See the recorded video for
See the recorded video for

Session Recordings Day 1:

Session Recordings Day 2:

With a theme of “Human Exploration and Discover: the Moon, Mars and Beyond!”, the 2019 NASA Human Research Program Investigators' Workshop was held Jan. 22-25 in Galveston, Texas. The workshop’s goal was to provide a collegial atmosphere for cross-disciplinary interactions, and featured multiple talks from leaders in space exploration and research.

See the short film:

NASA is preparing to send astronauts on a round-trip journey to Mars, one of the most ambitious projects humanity has ever attempted. This expedition will not only be an incredible feat of engineering, but also psychological fortitude for the astronauts chosen to fly this 18-month mission. These men and women will face isolation, latent communications with ground crews, boredom, and lack of personal space.

At the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH), our remit is to prepare countermeasure and preventions for these and many other healthcare risks of long duration space flight.

TRISH and Z3VR, a digital health startup in Houston, collaborated for an one-day, live-streamed workshop held Jan. 17, 2019 on the applications of augmented, virtual and extended realities in deep space exploration.