NASA has selected 51 proposals to receive one- to four-year grants for conducting ground-based or space-bourne life sciences research, totaling approximately $6.7 million.

The purpose of these grants is to encourage science and technology research in the space life sciences. The grants selected for funding were submitted to NASA in May 1996 in response to formal research announcements requesting proposals to support research on Earth and in space that provides a basic understanding of the role of gravity in biological processes (NRA 96-OLMSA-01A and 96-OLMSA-01B).

Sponsored by NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications in Washington, DC, these announcements offered investigators the opportunity to take advantage of NASAís life and biomedical sciences research facilities to improve the understanding of fundamental biological processes.

NASA received 443 proposals in response to these research announcements. The proposals were subjected to independent peer review through panels made up of external scientific and technical experts. The selected proposals represent the following areas: advanced life support (8), behavior and performance (2), space physiology and countermeasures (16), space human factors engineering (2), space biology (18), advanced technology development (1), advanced environmental monitoring and control (3), and environmental health (1).

NASA Life Sciencesí grants provide investigators with the opportunity to study and characterize basic biological mechanisms in ways not possible on Earth. By utilizing access to space as a research tool, NASA-sponsored research will advance fundamental knowledge of the way in which weightlessness, radiation, and other aspects of the space environment interact with biological processes. These grants also seek to enhance the application of this knowledge to procedures and technologies that enable humans to live, work, and explore in space and to benefit the health and well-being of people on Earth.

Following are the Principal Investigators, their institutions, and the titles of their proposals which have been accepted for funding.

Norman I. Badler, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, "Performance Assessment Using Simulation and Human Factors Analysis in IVA & EVA"

David P. Cadogan, ILC Dover, Inc., Frederica, DE, "Space Suit Survivability Enhancement"

Richard Cohen, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, "NASA Center for Quantitative Cardiovascular Physiology, Modeling, and Data Analysis"

Bob V. Conger. Ph.D., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, "Gravitational Effects on Embryogenesis in Poaceae"

Joel Cuello, Ph.D., University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, "Harnessing Solar Irradiance for Space Life Support"

Richard Cyr, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, "Regenerating Protoplast as a Single-Cell Model System for Studying the Gravitropism in Plants"

Charles A. Czeisler, Ph.D., M.D., Brigham and Womenís Hospital, Boston, MA, "Evaluation of Intermittent Bright Light Exposure as a Spaceflight Countermeasure"

Stephen B. Doty, Ph.D., Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, "The Effect of Spaceflight on Cartilage Cell Cycling and Differentiation"

Pauline J. Duke, Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, "Relationship of Morphogenesis and Mineralization to Gravitaxis in Spaceflown Algae"

Elisa M. Durban, Ph.D., University of Texas at Houston, Houston, TX, "Gravity and the Regulation of a Central Growth Factor Pathway"

Nina V. Fedoroff, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, "The Use of Arabidopsis Transposon Mutants in the Study of Gravitropism"

John A. Frangos, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, "Microgravity In Vitro Model of Bone: Flow Effects"

Alan S. Gevins, Ph.D., EEG Systems Laboratories, San Francisco, CA, "Physiological Monitoring of Mental Workload"

Craig A. Grimes, Ph.D., University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, "In Situ, Remote Chemical Sensors Based on Thin Magnetic Films"

Alan D. Grinnell, Ph.D., University of California - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, "Regulation of Vesicular Neurosecretion by Mechanical Stress on Integrins in Nerve Terminal Membranes"

Bernard P. Halloran, Ph.D., Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, "Intermittent Administration of Parathyroid Hormone: Countermeasure for the Loss of Bone Mass and Strength During Spaceflight"

Alan Hargens, Ph.D., NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, "Noninvasive Intracranial Diameter and Pressure Measurements Using Ultrasound"

Deborah L. Harm, Ph.D., NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, "Bioavailability and Performance Effects of Promethazine During Space Flight"

Ross Philip Holmes, Ph.D., Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, "Dietary Oxalate and Stone Risk"

Jean B. Hunter, Ph.D., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, "Cost Optimization of Menus and Food Preparation for Lunar and Planetary CELSS Stations"

Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, "Mechanotransduction Through the Cytoskeleton"

Clifford D. Jolly, Environmental & Life Support Technology, Inc., Lakewood, CO, "Enhanced Oxidation Catalysts for Water Reclamation"

Timothy A. Jones, Ph.D., University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO, "Vestibular Ontogeny, Adaptation, and the Effects of Gravitational Loading in the Rat"

Nick A. Kanas, M.D., University of California - San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, "Crew Member and Crew-Ground Interactions During International Space Station Missions"

Horacio C. Kaufmann, M.D., The Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, "Vestibular Influence on Autonomic Cardiovascular Control"

William J. Landis, Ph.D., Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, "The Effect of Hypergravity on Bone Cell Cultures"

Adrian LeBlanc, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, "Prevention of Bed Rest Osteoporosis: Resistive Exercise"

Benjamin Levine, M.D., Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, Dallas, TX, "The Role of Cardiac Mechanics in Blood Pressure Regulation During Orthostatic Stress: The Effect of Duration of Exposure to Simulated Microgravity"

Anna Lysakowski, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, "Ultrastructural, Neurochemical and Developmental Responses to Hypergravity"

Rocco L. Mancinelli, Ph.D., NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, "Control Systems Integration in Closed Ecological Systems Using Denitrification as a Model"

Michael R. McGinnis, Ph.D., University of Texas Medical Branch and Galveston, Galveston, TX, "Space Flight Effects on Fungal Growth, Metabolism and Sensitivity to Antifungal Drugs"

Karen Murdoch, Hamilton Standard Space Systems International, Inc.,Winsor Locks, CT, "Membrane Based Thermal Control Development"

Charles M. Oman, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, "Human Orientation and Sensory-motor Coordination in Prolonged Weightlessness"

Lawrence A. Palinkas, Ph.D., University of California - San Diego, La Jolla, CA, "Antarctic Space Analog Program (ASAP)"

Duane L. Pierson, Ph.D., NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX , "Flight-Induced Changes in Immune Defenses"

Duane L. Pierson, Ph.D., NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX , "Incidence of Latent Virus Shedding During Space Flight"

Duane L. Pierson, Ph.D., NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX , "Automated Use of DNA Probes for Rapid Detection of Bacteria in Water"

B. W. Poovaiah, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, "Calcium/Calmodulin-Mediated Gravitropic Response in Plants"

Lakshmi Putcha, Ph.D., NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX , "Gastrointestinal Function During Extended Duration Space Flight"

Peter B. Raven, Ph.D., University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, "Carotid Baroreflex Function During Prolonged Exercise"

A. S. N. Reddy, Ph.D., Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, "Gravity-Induced Changes in Gene Expression in Arabidopsis"

Clinton T. Rubin, Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, "Optimization of a Biochemical Countermeasure for Disuse Osteopenia"

Fred D. Sack, Ph.D., Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, "Development of Gravity Sensitive Plant Cells (Ceratodon) During Early Utilization of Space Station"

Todd T. Schlegel, M.D., NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, "Vestibular-Autonomic Interactions During and After Prolonged Gravitational Changes"

Cyle D. Sprick, Oceaneering Space Systems, Houston, TX, "Cryogenic PLSS Design Study"

L. Andrew Staehelin, Ph.D., University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, "Integrated Analysis of Columella Cell Structure and Function"

Gary W. Stutte, Ph.D., Dynamac Corporation, Kennedy Space Center, FL, "Photosynthesis and Metabolism of Super Dwarf Wheat in Microgravity"

Gerald E. Voecks, Ph.D., Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, "New Technology for Optically Based Multifunctioned Chemical Sensors"

Charles E. Wade, Ph.D., NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, "Effect of Gravity on Energy Expenditure by Rats"

Peggy A. Whitson, Ph.D., NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, "Renal Stone Risk During Space Flight: Assessment and Countermeasure Validation"

Janice Yelle, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, "Individual Susceptibility to Post-Spaceflight Orthostatic Intolerance: Contributions of Gender-Related and Microgravity-Related Factors"