Rayburn House Office Building Room 2325

March 19th, 2013 – 9-11AM – Washington DC

MODERATOR: Lt. Col Ravi Chaudhary, U.S. Air Force

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Mr. John Hartman, CEO The Horizons Strategy Group, LLC

STUDENT PANELISTS:

Gwen Owens
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California

Gwen is focusing on crystallography of proteins that cause neurodegenerative diseases using microgravity. Protein crystallization, when performed in space, may be able to produce large, well-organized crystals, which will help determine the three-dimensional structures of the proteins. These results may lead to more focused drug development. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) is sponsoring her research that is planned to fly on the International Space Station National Laboratory.

Naveenan Thiagarajan
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama

Naveenan is investigating a cooling technique for electronics involving microscopic-sized surface texturizing in silicon, which is used to create a self-propelled flow of dielectric liquid. The results will apply to modern space electronics including life support systems, while also contributing to fundamental understanding of the physics and properties of fluids under reduced gravity environments. Naveenan’s research is funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF). His experiment has flown on NASA’s Zero-G reduced gravity parabolic flight.

Andrea Edge
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana

Andrea is examining the effects of gravity on plant growth and development. She will germinate and grow plant roots on the International Space Station in an uninhibited microgravity environment and a High Gradient Magnetic Field. The findings will help assess gene expression and the intracellular organization of roots. Comparisons can be made to roots grown on Earth to determine how plant genes are activated. Andrea’s research is funded by a NASA grant and will fly on the International Space Station National Laboratory.

Joshua S. Alwood
NASA Postdoctoral Program (Oak Ridge Associated Universities)
Moffett Field, California

Josh’s research aims to understand and control the bone loss that occurs in astronauts during space flight primarily from the environmental factors of weightlessness and radiation exposure. To achieve this goal, Josh employs an approach to mimic these environmental factors in experiments conducted here on Earth. With this approach, basic biological mechanisms can be understood and countermeasures developed prior to conducting experiments in space. In his current work, Josh investigates whether a diet rich in antioxidants effectively prevents bone loss that follows radiation exposure. Josh frequently uses the NASA Space Radiation Lab in Brookhaven, New York to simulate the unique types of radiation that are present in space.

Susan John
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana

Susan is investigating the effects of microgravity and stress at the cellular and molecular levels on plants. Her lab works with a desiccation tolerant plant to study the different components responsible for providing tolerance. These findings will be useful to understand internal functioning of plants under stress, designing growth-conducive environments, as well as developing transgenic crops that can tolerate drought conditions. Susan’s research is funded by NASA.

Ashley Macner
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York

Ashley is specializing in interface stability, capillarity, and dropwise condensation. She is interested in designing effective surfaces for large-scale dropwise condensation to help NASA achieve maximum heat transfer rates in their management of waste heat generated from electronics and habitable environments in low gravity. Ashley’s research is funded by a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship (NSTRF) and will fly on the International Space Station National Laboratory.

Aubrey Florom-Smith
University of Miami
Miami, Florida

Aubrey’s research interests include the prevention of HIV and other infectious diseases, along with intertwined conditions such as mental health, behavior, and immune function within the context of challenging conditions and environments. For her dissertation, she is testing a stress process model predicting depression and sexual risk among HIV-infected gay and bisexual men. Her research is funded by the National Institute Of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health and the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies.