From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Newsgroups: sci.space.news
Subject: NASA, NIH sign agreement on joint, space-related research [Release 92-119] (Forwarded)
Date: 22 Jul 92 03:29:49 GMT
Followup-To: sci.space
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Apparently-To: sci-space-news@ames.arc.nasa.gov

Paula Cleggett-Haleim
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                         July 21, 1992
(Phone:  202/453-1547)

Mark Stern
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
(Phone:  301/496-2535)


RELEASE:  92-119

NASA, NIH SIGN AGREEMENT ON JOINT, SPACE-RELATED RESEARCH

	NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin and National Institutes of Health
Director Bernadine Healy, M.D., today signed an agreement that will
enhance each agency's biomedical research capabilities.

	At a signing ceremony held with Senator Barbara Mikulski, the
agencies pledged to develop programs that apply NASA's unique expertise to
practical, medical needs on Earth and in space.

	"For decades, the rigors of space flight have pushed NASA to advance
the bounds of medical knowledge for the protection of our astronauts'
health," Goldin said.  "In so doing, the space program has spawned a host of
technological advancements.  Walk into any hospital today and you see the
work of NASA -- programmable pacemakers, CAT scans, intensive care
monitors, arthroscopic and laser surgery -- all derived from the space
program."

	Barbara Mikulski said, "For the first time in history we are linking up
the considerable talents of both our NIH and our NASA research teams, and
we are saying to them -- work together on what needs to be done both on
Earth and in space.  The joint NASA/NIH venture means that we will have
twice the brainpower looking at diseases such as neurological disorders,
arthritis and even cancer."

	Dr. Healy said, "This memorandum of understanding provides the
National Institutes of Health and NASA with a welcome opportunity to
combine the unique strengths of both agencies in conducting research on
the frontiers of space and medicine.

	"NIH looks forward to what promises to be a productive exploration
with NASA of the inner space of our bodies and cells and the outer space of
our solar system and the universe," Dr. Healy said.

	The agreement is intended to stimulate new opportunities in the
biomedical and behavioral research community, as it provides for greater
access to space as well as involvement by university-based research centers.

	In general, the agreement calls for NIH to have the lead role in
ground-based research activities and for NASA to have the lead role in space
flight research activities.

	Specifically addressed in the agreement are provisions for joint
management and funding of programs that cover:

	o  Focused, university-based biomedical and behavioral research,

	o  Opportunities for space flight experiments to enable more
biomedical and behavioral scientists to use the space environment for
research,

	o  Grant supplements that allow NASA to fund awards to existing NIH
research centers,

	o  Program announcements, requests for applications and requests for
proposals to increase research tasks in selected areas of biomedical and
behavioral research, and

	o  Mutually sponsored workshops and symposia on specific biomedical
research topics.

	Initial research topics likely to be addressed under the agreement
include the neurovestibular system (vestibular and balance disorders and
sensory motor function) and the musculoskeletal system (bone, muscle and
related connective tissue).

	Research performed by both agencies, under the agreement, would
help us understand how these systems function in space crews and how
mechanisms develop that lead to disease or dysfunction in patients on Earth.