# Presentation: 502992

## NIH/NASA Meeting onSpace-Related Health Research

**non-regulatory agency **
- in the
**Technology Administration **
- of the** **
**US Department of Commerce.**

**NIH/NASA Meeting on****Space-Related Health Research**

_***Mission***_*** ...****** *****to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life**

**Willie E. May, Director**
**Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory**
**National Institute of Standards and Technology**

- World-leading measurement science and standards program
- ~1,400 technical staff including ~700 PhD scientists and engineers
- Partnerships with industry, academia, and **other government agencies** have been an integral part of NIST culture since 1901.

## NIST’s Role as a Federal Partner in the Biosciences

- NIST’s can play a critical role by leveraging its vast expertise in the **quantitative physical and informational sciences** to provide the measurement infrastructure to underpin innovation in the biosciences and health-related areas.

## NIST has a Wide Variety of Relevant Strengths andMeasurement Capabilities...

***For example:***
-  Rigorous application of physical sciences to biological problems and biotechnology
- Biocatalysis, structural biology, molecular mechanisms, bioimaging, biospectroscopy,
- 	bio MEMS, biomaterials metrology, computational modeling and informatics
-  Chemical Measurement Science
- chemical composition measurements, (bio)separation science, biothermophysical/chemical property measurements and data, surface and micro/nano analysis science, chemistry and biochemistry, computational chemistry, process measurement and sensing technology,
-  Materials Science
- quantitative biomaterials characterization, cell metrology, tissue engineering, cold neutron imaging, self-assembly mechanisms, material biocompatability, polymer-based composites for medical applications, mechanical property metrology for biological systems
-  Medical Physics
- Standards for diagnostics and therapeutic radiology, biological structure characterization using advanced spectroscopies
-  Standards Development and Deployment

## Current Astrobiology-Related Research Collaborations with NASA

- _[Mars Organic ](slide5.xml)__[Analyser](slide5.xml)__[: ](slide5.xml)_NIST developed chiral thermal gradient focusing technique for the ultra-sensitive, in situ measurement of biomarkers

- _[NASA Messenger and NASA Nugget: ](slide6.xml)_NIST provided instrument expertise in instrument development calibration and to ensure data quality from measurements in space.

**Nanotube characterization** and quality assurance for production and use in space crafts

**Mars Oxygen Liquefier** prototype was developed at NIST to liquefy oxygen on Mars.

## Current Areas of Space-Related “Life” Research

**Mars Organic Analyzer** - detection of current or past life on Mars
***NIST role:*** measurement technology innovation, ultra-metrology and reliability
- Novel microfluidic device has a portable platform
- Ultra sensitive*, insitu *analysis of biomarkers
- Uses chiral temperature gradient focusing invented at NIST

- _[return](slide4.xml)_

## Current Areas of Space-Related “Life” Research

**NASA Messenger** – multielemental mapping of the surface of Mercury in search for signs of life
***NIST role:*** High tech calibration of critical gamma ray detector to measure gamma ray emission resulting from capture of cosmic-ray induced neutrons in the planet’s crust
**NASA NUGGET** – developed to look at life in space
***NIST role: ***Provide measurement expertise and world class instrumentation: a specialized focusing beam developed at NIST and NIST’s Prompt-gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) Spectrometer

- NASA’s Principal Investigator Sam Floyd and a NIST/NASA team tested the NUGGET concept at NIST

- _[return](slide4.xml)_

## Current Areas of Space-Related “Life” Research

**Nanotube characterization** and quality assurance for production and use in space crafts
- Health applications – medical device, sensor etc
- ESH, toxicity issues
***NIST role:*** develop methodologies to:
- Produce nanotube reference materials for process QC
- Characterize fundamental optical and electronic properties

**Collaborators:**
***Federal partners*** at NASA, NIOSH, CDC,
***Academic partners*** at Rice U, Rochester Institute of Technology

**return**

## Current Areas of Space-Related “Life” Research

**Mars Oxygen Liquefier** prototype developed at NIST to liquefy oxygen produced from the carbon dioxide atmosphere on Mars for more feasible storage and use in life support systems in space.

***NIST Role:*** NIST expertise in cryogenic technologies led to the development of an extremely efficient pulse tube liquefier that uses NIST modeling programs and NIST-developed coaxial arrangement

**return**

## Existing Resources to Facilitate Space-Related Health Research

***Facilities and Equipment***
**	****Advanced Measurement Laboratory**
**Nano-scale science and metrology**
**	****Advanced Chemical Sciences Laboratory**
**Analytical Chemistry, Biochemical Sciences**
- 	**NIST Center for Neutron Research**
**Cold Neutron Source for characterization of biological and other materials**

## NIST Conducts Research in Three Joint Institutes

- Center for teaching and research in atomic, chemical, optical, laser, gravitational, and solar physics; semiconductors; precision measurement; astrophysics; astronomy; and now bioscience

- Research in science and biotechnology to  understand linkages between environmental condition and the health of marine organisms and humans

- Research in fundamental problems at the forefront of biotechnology focusing on structural biology, bioinformatics, proteomic, plant and insect transformation

**Notes:**
About 85% of NIST staff work at Gaithersburg; about 15% at Boulder

Joint institutes with local universities near both campuses

CARB: Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology—NIH has provided a number of grants to CARB scientists over the years and I will be telling you about CARB in just a second.

JILA: Our joint institute with the University of Colorado, has recently hired their first biophysicist and the second one starts in September.

## Potential Areas for new Research Collaborations

- New detection technologies – biosensors, micro and nanosensing devices
- New measurement methods and standards to support proteomic and metabolomics research
- Support development of astrobiology instrumentation that can survive harsh environments of space (e.g. low temperature, high radiation)
- New growth areas at NIST:
- Standards for Bioimaging
- Health/Environmental Effects of Nanoparticles
- Standards and technologies for Next Generation Clinical Diagnostics and Therapies
- Metrology for biological tissue development

## Unique Research Facilities

***NIST Center for Neutron Research***
** **

***NIST Advanced Measurement Laboratory***
*** ***

- Five Building Complex with stringent control of temperature, vibration, humidity, cleanliness
- State-of-the-art nano-fabrication capabilities, in the 110,000 sq ft Cleanroom Building

- Return

- The only U.S. capability for studies of biological dynamics, both temporal and spatial information are obtained.
- Neutron methods at the NCNR encompass an enormous range of time and length scales.