IGIANT® SPACE HEALTH CHALLENGE WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

The iGIANT® is delighted to announce that the winners for the 2018 iGIANT Space Health challenge competition are Ann-Sofie Schreurs, PhD from NASA Ames and Heather Allaway, PhD from Texas A &M University for their proposal which evaluates the impact of dried plums to prevent bone loss due to simulated spaceflight (combination of simulated microgravity and radiation) in male and female mice. This proposal was submitted in response to a Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) synergy grant competition.

Their initial studies, supported by TRISH, have shown bone protection in female mice. In their proposal, they recommended that male mice be included to assess the impact of sex on this potential countermeasure to prevent bone loss and fractures. If dried plums are found to be effective in the animal population, further studies will need to be conducted among men and women in space and on Earth.

This could lead to an effective design element such as a policy to prevent bone loss using dietary countermeasures. The iGIANT is honored to provide a small monetary award to acknowledge its support for this innovative proposal to advance the health of male and female participants.

The TRISH is a Baylor College of Medicine-led consortium with the California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.