The Worldwide Area Station Nationwide Laboratory (ISS Nationwide Lab) and NASA introduced a brand new solicitation, the Nationwide Lab Analysis Announcement (NLRA), which is able to supply as much as $4 million unfold out over two to a few awards for tasks that leverage the house surroundings and expertise to develop therapies for ailments on Earth.
The joint solicitation focuses on tasks that present enhanced fashions to review the onset and development of ailments and deal with inhabitants and illness heterogeneity, drug screening and growth, drug supply, like nanotechnology, and drug resistance and toxicity.
The pair is looking for tasks that target creating therapies for most cancers, immune, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and muscle and bone ailments.
The NLRA notes that illness fashions may be accelerated in microgravity utilizing the ISS Nationwide Lab’s sources and, due to this fact, can mitigate lots of the challenges typically confronted with translating analysis findings into medical functions.
“Area-based analysis has a protracted historical past of contributing to developments on Earth,” Lisa Carnell, director of NASA’s Organic and Bodily Sciences division, stated in a press release.
“Persevering with the Igniting Innovation solicitation may contribute to the subsequent massive leap in illness therapies. We’re excited to collaborate with the ISS Nationwide Lab on this endeavor to assist deal with among the greatest well being challenges going through the world immediately.”
The solicitation opened on Aug. 15 and closes on March 3, 2025.
THE LARGER TREND
One other group funding tasks for house well being analysis to enhance illness remedies on Earth is the Translational Analysis Institute for Area Well being (TRISH).
TRISH’s Catalyst Grant Program is a steady open name for proposals from organizations growing expertise for house well being that deal with vital wants, advance ideas with constructive preliminary findings and embody revolutionary tasks exterior of the scope of the group’s traditional solicitations.
Different firms working with NASA on well being expertise analysis tasks in house embody Elon Musk’s SpaceX, medical online game firm LevelEx and digital reality-based psychological well being firm XRHealth.
