Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine are collaborating with other Texas A&M University partners, including the College of Engineering and College of Education and Human Development, to find new medical discoveries in space. But it's not just astronauts who benefitthese discoveries have the potential to unlock medical discoveries on Earth: in this case, inflammatory bowel disease and risks of cancer treatment.

So what does that have to do with spaceflight?



A lot, as it turns out. Spaceflight and microgravity cause a number of changes to the human body: bone and muscle loss, immune dysregulation, increased risk of cancer and changes to the cardiovascular system. Without gravity, the pressure gradients from top to bottom of a person are drastically altered.

Anand "Sunny" Narayanan, a graduate research fellow, and Walter Cromer, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research associate, both trainees in the College of Medicine's Department of Medical Physiology, are investigating tissue samples from ground-based space analogue animal models and from spaceflight missions.

Learn more about Texas A&M's interdisciplinary approach to solving the world's toughest problems and its current spaceflight research for medical discoveries.

Texas A&M Foundation
The Texas A&M Foundation is a nonprofit organization that receives major gifts and manages endowments for Texas A&M University. This year, the Foundation will provide $88.2 million for scholarships, faculty support, leadership programs and construction projects. Request your A&M Support Kit to learn how you can make a difference at Texas A&M through a gift to the Foundation.