Up to $1.6 Million in Funding Available for NSF Tissue Engineering Research Utilizing the ISS National Lab

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), December 4, 2024 – For the eighth consecutive year, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding a solicitation seeking projects that utilize the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) National Laboratory to advance tissue engineering and mechanobiology research. Through this solicitation, NSF will provide up to $1.6 million in total funding for multiple projects.

MicrogravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment. affects organisms—from bacteria to humans, causing changes in gene expression and DNA regulation, altered cellular function and physiology, and 3D aggregation of cells. Research leveraging these effects can drive advances in the modeling of healthy and pathological tissues and organs, disease diagnosis and treatment, regenerative medicine, and many other areas within bioengineering and the biomedical sciences.

Fundamental science is a strategic focus area for the ISS National Lab, and knowledge gained from such studies could have profound impacts on future research and technology development that brings value to our nation and the scientific community. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space™ (CASIS®), manager of the ISS National Lab, has established powerful multiyear partnerships with government agencies such as NSF to fund fundamental research on the orbiting laboratory. NSF supports transformative research to help drive the U.S. economy, enhance national security, and maintain America’s position as a global leader in innovation.

A project selected from a prior NSF-funded solicitation recently launched on SpaceX’s 31st Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission for NASA. The collaborative investigation from Oregon State University and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is using 3D-bioprinted cardiac organoids to study microgravity-induced atrophy on heart muscle cells. Results could lead to a better understanding of heart muscle atrophy, which occurs in several conditions, such as cancer, muscle disease, muscular dystrophy, diabetes, sepsis, and heart failure.

This solicitation follows a two-step proposal process. All interested investigators must first submit an ISS National Lab Feasibility Review Form for evaluation of the proposed concept’s operational feasibility. The deadline to submit a Feasibility Review Form is January 15, 2025. Only investigators whose concept passes the Feasibility Review step will be invited to submit a full proposal. The full proposal submission deadline is March 18, 2025.

For more information on this solicitation (NSF 25-513), including how to submit a Feasibility Review Form, visit the ISS National Lab solicitation webpage. To view the full solicitation, please see the NSF solicitation page.

To learn more about the benefits of conducting research leveraging the ISS National Lab, please visit our website.

Download a high-resolution image: NASA Astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli and the BFF

Media Contact:
Patrick O’Neill
904-806-0035
PONeill@ISSNationalLab.org

# # #

About the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory: The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind laboratory that enables research and technology development not possible on Earth. As a public service enterprise, the ISS National Laboratory® allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve quality of life on Earth, mature space-based business models, advance science literacy in the future workforce, and expand a sustainable and scalable market in low Earth orbit(Abbreviation: LEO) The orbit around the Earth that extends up to an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. The International Space Station’s orbit is in LEO, at an altitude of approximately 250 miles.. Through this orbiting national laboratory, research resources on the ISS are available to support non-NASA science, technology, and education initiatives from U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space™ (CASIS™(Abbreviation: CASIS™) The nonprofit organization that manages the ISS National Lab, which receives at least 50 percent of the U.S. research allocation on the International Space Station to facilitate research that benefits humanity (NASA manages the other 50% and focuses on research for space exploration purposes).) manages the ISS National Lab, under Cooperative AgreementA cooperative agreement is Federal assistance that establishes a relationship between the U.S. Government and a recipient in which the principal purpose of the relationship is to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation.  Since 2011, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space™ (CASIS™) has managed the National Laboratory® through a Cooperative Agreement with NASA. with NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration, facilitating access to its permanent microgravity research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space. To learn more about the ISS National Lab, visit our website.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, CASIS accepts corporate and individual donations to help advance science in space for the benefit of humanity. For more information, visit our donations page.